The Chat's Out of the Bag
by Kristine Angela Booth
Summary: Fed up with Marinette being unable to ask out Adrien, Alya and Nino write a play to force them together. Unable to escape the roles of Ladybug and Chat Noir, Marinette and Adrien struggle to balance school, the play, and their attempts to stop Hawk Moth from destroying Paris. An eventual reveal fic. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter One: Ice Melt

**Chapter One: Ice Melt**

Marinette walked to school with a contented sigh. She had woken up early that morning to add finishing touches to her homework, and it was looking like she would be on time to school. For once, her duties as Ladybug hadn't interfered to the point of making her fall too behind on her schoolwork.

With her backpack swung over her shoulder, she approached the steps in front of her school. She raised a hand to greet Alya, but the sight she saw on the steps made her pause. Alya stood with Nino, their heads practically touching so their whispers wouldn't reach the ears of those around them. Marinette walked over, her hand falling to her side. The two of them were talking very intently while looking at a notebook clutched in both their hands.

At that moment, a silver limo pulled up to the school. Adrien stepped out, gorgeous and graceful as ever. He saw Nino with Alya, a confused expression spreading over his face. He walked up to Marinette, both watching their friends.

"What's up with them?" he asked.

Marinette started at the sound of his voice. "Oh, uh, I-I don't kn-know. I j-just got h-here," she stammered out. She groaned inwardly. When would she be able to say a single coherent sentence to him? She just got so flustered by those dazzling green eyes…

"Hey, Nino, what're you guys reading?" Adrien didn't react to her stammering, simply walking up to the two teens huddled together. They broke apart instantly. They did a complete 180, Alya slamming the notebook shut and hiding it behind her back. Both of them smiled sheepishly and waved at their friends.

"Oh, it's nothing, dude. Just something that we've been working on. Let's get to class." Nino and Adrien left together and went into the building.

Marinette pulled her eyes away from Adrien's back and walked up to Alya. She looked at the notebook behind her back. "What's in there that had the two of you all whispery?"

"You'll find out later, promise," Alya assured her. "But for now we should go to class."

The whole first half of school, Marinette kept trying to sneak glances into the secret notebook. All the while, Alya kept peeking inside, adding notes to it. Marinette did her best to look nonchalantly when she did this. That meant that instead of being truly nonchalant, she very obviously leaned over and almost fell out of her chair. Alya shook her head, laughing as Marinette barely caught the table in time to hold herself up.

When the lunch bell rang, Alya pulled the notebook out once more. "I need to meet up with Nino, Girl. Do you mind if we separate for lunch?"

Marinette sighed. "Go ahead, I can just go back home for lunch anyway. Whatever you guys are doing must be captivating!" she added as Alya hurried to the row in front of the class to catch up with Nino before he left.

The next minute left most of the class gone, and just Marinette and Adrien left in the room. Without him so much as looking at her, Marinette felt her cheeks go bright red. She stumbled to put her stuff back in her backpack. In the process, she dropped a pencil, which fell to the bottom of the stairs. The clanking alerted the attention of Adrien. He walked to the base of the steps and grabbed the writing utensil.

"Drop this?" he asked, smiling at her.

Marinette laughed nervously. She walked over and took the pencil from her, the fingers that brushed against his tingling at the touch. "Th-thanks. I, uh, guess it hand from my slipped. Er- slipped from hand my. I mean, slipped from my hand!" Her cheeks burned, turning a deep shade of red.

Thankfully, Adrien just laughed. "Sounds like a cat's got your tongue," he joked.

Marinette snorted, only just managing to disguise it with a cough. That sounded exactly like something Chat Noir would have said. "Y-yeah. I guess s-so."

"Well, I've got to head out for lunch. See you, Marinette." Adrien waved at her, leaving her standing in the middle of the classroom awkwardly.

"B-bye!" she managed, waving a belated goodbye. After a minute, she followed him out, her cheeks dulling to a pink. In the courtyard she saw Alya and Nino sitting together, once again working on their notebook.

Marinette shook her head and went home to eat lunch. On her way, however, she heard the all-to0-familiar sound of screams coming from outside. She stiffened immediately, running out to see what was causing the commotion.

The familiar limo that brought Adrien to and from school was stopped not far down the road. In front of it was another car, frozen in a block of ice. A woman with pure white hair stood on the sidewalk. She wore a pale blue and white suit. Other students ran out, and she turned to look at them. Her mask looked exactly like frost had begun to creep out from her eyes. She had a belt adorned with several items.

"No one can have an icy personality when they're covered in ice!" she said with glee, grabbing a baton from her belt and pointing it towards the silver limo. Ice shot from the baton.

Right before it hit and encased the car in ice, the back door flung open and Adrien dived out of the car. He quickly scrambled to his feet and ran from the ice and the akuma victim.

Marinette, seeing him run safely to hide, ran back into the school. She found a luckily empty classroom and unclasped her purse.

Tikki flew out, looking worried. "That was a close one for Adrien," she observed.

"Too close. Tikki, spots on!" There was a burst of pink magic, and Marinette transformed into her now-familiar Ladybug outfit. She hurried out of the room. Everyone was distracted by the akumatized girl to notice her running out of the school. She swung her yo-yo and went to the roof of the school.

"Hey Ice Queen!" she shouted, looking down as people scattered before the white baton. The girl looked up and grinned, the outline of a purple butterfly appearing in front of her face.

"Looks like we've got a slippery situation on our hands." Ladybug looked over, rolling her eyes at Chat Noir.

"We've got to find out where the akuma is," she said, ignoring what he said.

"My name is Ice Melt, and I will have your Miraculous!" she shouted up at them. She grabbed another baton from her belt, pointing it at the original car. Fire burst from this one, turning it into a puddle of water.

Chat Noir and Ladybug gasped. "That heated up quickly," Chat Noir said.

They both leaped down, Ladybug using her yo-yo to swing down, and Chat Noir using his own baton to slow his descent. They landed on either side of Ice Melt, standing in fighting stances.

"Whatever happened to you, we can help. This isn't going to help you," Ladybug said. She took a step towards Ice Melt, hoping that for once reasoning with them would work. She was wrong.

A stream of ice shot towards her, making her dodge to the side. She threw her yo-yo, wrapping it around Chat Noir and yanking right before another blast hit where he'd been standing. He screamed in shock as he was forced towards her. He crashed into her, sending them both sprawling to the ground. A grin broke out on his face as he looked down at her.

"Not now, Chat," Ladybug said, pushing him away and getting to her feet.

He followed her lead and stood, facing Ice Melt once more. "Any plan on how to get rid of those batons, Milady?"

Another blast fired. They scrambled to the side. "She keeps them on her belt. We need to get that while she's mobile and can't shoot."

"Got it." Chat immediately jumped onto a nearby lamppost. He turned to Ice Melt, waving his hand tauntingly. "If you want my Miraculous, you'll have to come and get it!"

He started to move away, using lampposts and buildings to propel himself further.

"Get back here!" Ice Melt shouted, putting the baton back on her belt and racing after him.

Ladybug smirked, waiting a moment before following them. She swung through the streets, trying to find a good opportunity to get to her belt. She was about to swing towards her when the purple butterfly appeared in front of Ice Melt. The villain turned her head and glared at Ladybug. The image in front of her face faded away.

"Not so fast, Ladybug." She stopped and grabbed her ice baton, firing a shot towards her. Ladybug yelped, changing her direction as fast as she could. She hit a rooftop when she felt her foot go cold.

Ladybug looked down in horror. Her foot was encased in a block of ice. She tried pulling her leg, but it remained steadfast. Looking up, she saw Ice Melt coming across to her on a bridge of ice. Ladybug started to pull on her leg harder.

"Ladybug!" Chat Noir shouted from a distance. He turned around, racing to make up the distance and stop Ice Melt.

Desperately, Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo and threw it into the air. "Lucky Charm!" she shouted. A red pair of scissors covered in black dots fell into her hands. She stared at it for a second, her anxiety rising. Glancing around, she searched for any way she could use it. Ice Melt's belt caught her attention as well as Chat Noir's staff and the chunk of ice Ice Melt was walking on.

"Chat Noir! Use Cataclysm on the ice!" she shouted. He looked at her in shock, almost tripping as he kept running. Upon finding her gaze, he nodded. Sometimes, she wondered if he trusted her too much.

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir continued running, then touched his hand down a few feet from Ice Melt. The ice shattered and collapsed, momentarily bringing both Chat Noir and Ice Melt with it.

On reflex, Chat's staff shot forward and lodged itself into the side of the building. He crouched on it in his typical cat fashion, and his hands grabbed ahold of Ice Melt's hand.

"Chat, it must be in the belt!" Ladybug called, moving as close to the edge of the roof as she could. She tossed down the scissors, which he caught deftly in his free hand. While Ice Melt was still recovering from the shock, Chat Noir bent down and used the scissors to cut through the belt on her waist.

A purple butterfly emerged, flying up into the sky. Ladybug sighed in relief.

"No more evil doing for you, little akuma," she said. She swung her yo-yo and caught it. "Time to de-evilize!"

She retracted the yo-yo and she slid her finger down the middle. A pure white butterfly flew out and into the sky. "Bye-bye little butterfly."

Chat Noir jumped up to the rooftop, scissors in one hand. "I left Ice Melt on the ground. Apparently, she had a fight with her mother," he said.

Ladybug took the scissors from him and threw it into the sky. "Miraculous Ladybug!" Red and black magic flew from it, repairing the damage done by the akuma - including freeing Ladybug's foot from the ice.

"Pound it!" Ladybug put out her fist and Chat Noir touched his to it. Their hands returned to their sides.

"Does your foot need warming up Milady?" Chat said with teasing smile.

Ladybug's earrings beeped. "That's my cue. See you Chat," she said, throwing her yo-yo to swing away.

* * *

Chat watched her go, sighing. All he could hope was that one day she would look at him like he looked at her. It wasn't long before she was out of sight. He turned and started racing across rooftops to get back to the school. He landed discreetly behind a bush and whispered: "Claws in."

"That was a close one for Ladybug," Plagg noted, floating in front of Adrien.

"Yeah. I'm just glad she's okay, I don't know what I'd do without her," he said.

"As a superhero or do you mean your nonexistent love life?"

Adrien chose to ignore this comment. "Just get in my jacket, Plagg." He held it open and the black kwami flew inside.

He walked out from behind the bush, into a crowd of students talking. "Adrien! Where'd you go, dude?" the familiar voice of Nino called to him.

"I found somewhere to hide. I didn't want her to keep going after me," Adrien said with a shrug. "Is everyone okay?"

Nino nodded. "Ladybug and Chat Noir saved the day once again. Though your bodyguard doesn't look too happy."

Adrien looked towards the silver limo and his shoulders slumped. His gorilla-like bodyguard had located him and was stomping towards him. "My father won't be happy either," Adrien said with a sigh.

Nino patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. He let the car get hit, maybe he won't even bring it up to him."

At this, Adrien perked up. "Yeah, that's true. I guess I should go. See you next class, Nino." He waved a goodbye and went to deal with his bodyguard.

* * *

Hawkmoth clenched his fist angrily in his dark atrium. "One day I will get you, Ladybug. You and Chat Noir will fall to me, and I will have the power of your Miraculous'." The window closed, leaving him encased in darkness.


	2. Chapter Two: Casting

**I can't believe the amount of follows and favorites I've already gotten. I just want to say thank you to everyone that has read this. Knowing that you guys like this just makes me want to write it even more! Thank you again, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Casting**

Two days after the incident with Ice Melt, Marinette was running to school just a few minutes before class was going to begin. She raced as fast as she could, almost falling as she turned the corner to the school. By the time she reached the building, there was a minute to roll call.

She ran up the steps, using everything she had to get to her classroom. She ran in seconds before the bell rang. Quickly making her way to her seat, she sat down, panting.

"Did you sleep in again?" Alya asked.

Marinette nodded, catching her breath before responding. "Stayed up doing homework and then my alarm didn't go off," she said miserably, her head in her arms.

"Don't worry, I think I've got something that will cheer you up," Alya said.

Marinette looked up at her friend. "What is it?" she asked.

Alya winked. "Patience, young grasshopper," she said in a mock-sensei voice.

"All right, everybody. We have a special announcement from a couple of our class members today," Ms. Bustier said after doing roll call.

Alya grabbed the notebook she had been pouring over for the past few days and went to the front of the classroom with Nino. Ms. Bustier moved to the side of the room to make the two students the center of attention.

"Nino and I talked to Principal Damocles, and we got permission for our class to put on a play that the two of us wrote," Alya began.

Chloe scoffed, interrupting. "You're going to force us to put on an amateur play? No way!" Next to her, Sabrina nodded dutifully.

"You don't have to do it Chloe, you just won't get any of the credit, because Principal Damocles has made it a class assignment," Alya said smugly. Chloe glared at her in response but said nothing more.

Marinette raised her hand. "What kind of play did you guys write?" she asked curiously.

This time, Nino was the one to answer. "Our play is about Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Marinette's eyes widened, and she had to stop herself from jumping a foot in the air. In her shock, she missed Adrien stiffening in much the same way. A Ladybug and Chat Noir play? Marinette thought. Why did it have to be Ladybug and Chat Noir?

"Who's going to play Ladybug?" Sabrina asked.

"Why, me of course!" Chloe said, only interested now that she heard it was about her hero. "Who would make a more perfect Ladybug than me?"

Alya and Nino shared a look before answering the question. "Actually," Alya said, "Nino and I have already decided who our main heroes should be played by."

A chorus of "who" rang throughout the class.

Nino pointed at Adrien. "We think Adrien would make a great Chat Noir."

"And Marinette would make a great Ladybug." Alya was pointing at her own friend.

Marinette and Adrien started, glancing at each other, then at the two playwrights. Their jaws hung open, both desperately trying to think of a way out of this.

"I'm not sure if I'd make a great Chat Noir," Adrien said, rubbing the back of his head. "You guys should have someone else do it."

"Uh, me too," Marinette said awkwardly. "I'm really not much of an actress. Someone else should be the lead."

Before either Alya or Nino could respond, Chloe spoke up. "If she won't be Ladybug, then just go with me. You should've in the first place anyways," she said haughtily.

"We think that Marinette would be more dedicated to the role," Alya said, not able to keep all of the spite out of her voice. She looked up at Marinette. "Come on, you have to. You would make a perfect Ladybug!"

"Yeah, Marinette. I think you'd be great," Adrien said.

Marinette's cheeks when crimson at the compliment. "Y-you'd be better than me. As Chat Noir, I mean! You'd be a better Chat Noir than I'd be a Ladybug."

Adrien's eyes widened and he laughed awkwardly. "No, I think you'd be a much better Ladybug. Besides, I don't have the time to be lead in a play."

"We thought about that. We can easily schedule practice around your shooting schedule, dude," Nino said, smiling.

"B- Uh, it's not just shooting. I've got Chinese, piano, fencing, and whatever else my father sends me to do," Adrien said, grasping for any reason to not be Chat Noir in the play.

Everyone in the class started talking at once. Everyone seemed to believe Adrien should definitely play Chat Noir, and everyone but Chloe and Sabrina wanted Marinette to be Ladybug. Marinette and Adrien shared almost pained looks before sighing and nodding in consent.

"Fine, I'll do it," Marinette said.

"I- Alright. I'll be Chat Noir," Adrien said dejectedly.

* * *

"How exactly did you think that making me embarrass myself in a play would cheer me up?" Marinette asked after class got out, staring down at the script in her hand. Alya had gone through and highlighted all of her lines, encompassing more of the pages than she wished they did.

"Because Adrien is your co-star! You guys are going to spend so much time together!" Alya said, smiling wide.

Marinette froze. "That's right. I'm going to be acting with Adrien. And I'm going to have to say a whole play. With him right there. Oh, Alya, I don't know if I can do this! I can barely talk to him as it is!" She buried her face in her hands.

Alya sighed, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll do great! I'll help you memorize your lines. Knowing what you have to say should help you stay coherent."

Nino walked past them, pounding fists with Alya. "That went great, Alya. I'll see you later to finish up with casting."

As he walked away, Marinette looked up at her friend. She scrunched up her face in suspicion. "Did you guys plan this? I mean, I know you planned the play, but do you guys have a hidden plan-behind-the-plan that you're not sharing with your BFF?"

For a moment, Alya avoided her gaze and pretended to be admiring a butterfly a few feet away. Marinette's gaze didn't waver, making her friend sigh and look back at her. "All right, all right. I admit we may have had an ulterior motive behind writing the play."

"And that motive was…?" Marinette pressed.

"We were tired of you being unable to ask out Adrien. So we decided to arrange a way for you to spend more time together without you having to," Alya said.

A mix of a whine and a groan escaped Marinette's lips and her face once more found its way into her hands. She sat down on the steps to the school and Alya sat next to her. "So now I get to embarrass myself in front of Adrien and the rest of the school because I couldn't stop embarrassing myself in front of Adrien?"

Alya laughed. "Oh, Girl, come on. Only you could take this opportunity and ruin it! We worked hard so you could hang with him, you can at least pretend to be excited."

That's when the full brunt of it hit Marinette. Her head slowly rose from her hands, her eyes wide. "I… I'm going to hang out with Adrien," she said dreamily.

Her friend's laugh increased. "There's the Marinette I know and love."

* * *

Adrien sat at his desk at home. "What am I going to do, Plagg? I just agreed to play myself in a play!"

"This is dangerous, Adrien," Plagg said. He was floating in front of the young blonde's face. "You can't risk them finding out who you are."

He groaned. "I know. But how am I going to get out of it? I can't exactly explain that I am Chat Noir and can't be in the play or my identity will be revealed. And I can't tell them how full my schedule is, either. They're intent to work around what my father has me do, but what about my superhero duties? How can I explain that in the little spare time I have I'm jumping from rooftop to rooftop dressed in leather and fighting crime?"

Plagg sighed. "This is why you shouldn't let yourself get caught up in relationships. Cheese comes with much simpler problems."

"Life isn't all about camembert, you know," Adrien said.

The black kwami looked at him in shock. "But what could be better than a wheel of camembert?"

Adrien raised an eyebrow. "Friendship? Family? Just about anything other than the smelliest cheese you can find?"

"At least cheese doesn't threaten to reveal your secret identity," Plagg retorted. He flew towards the table of food set out by Adrien's personal chef and started munching on some of the cheese. Adrien watched his kwami devour it, wondering what his chef thought of Adrien's apparent change in dietary preferences. One day he hates stinky cheese, and the next he seemed to be craving mountains of it.

Sighing, Adrien turned towards the script that sat on the desk in front of him. Nino had highlighted what appeared to be a fourth of the script for him. "At least they gave me a few good puns. I wonder if I should suggest some more to them, they missed a few great opportunities."

"What is with you and bad puns?" Plagg asked around a mouthful of cheese.

"Bad? My jokes are great!" Adrien said.

At that moment, Adrien's father walked in. Plagg hurried and hid behind a pillow on the couch just in time. Gabriel Agreste looked down at his son, his face a stone.

"You are supposed to be practicing your piano, Adrien," he said disapprovingly. "Instead, you're… what is that you're reading? A school assignment?"

"Kind of, yeah. Our class is going to put on a play, and I've been cast as one of the leads," Adrien said. He looked up at his father, willing any semblance of pride or happiness to show on his sharp features. Instead, he saw a look of stern displeasure.

"Plays take a lot of time. I will not permit you to be in one if it in any way harms your studies," he said. He waved his hand towards the grand piano. "Now get to your practice or I will have to forbid you from participating."

Adrien hung his head. "Yes, Father," he said. He stood up from his desk, leaving the script behind, and sat down at his piano. Once he had started playing, his father turned and left just as stiffly as he had entered.

Plagg peaked over the couch, then flew to sit on the piano at which Adrien was playing. He watched Adrien as he played morosely. Even to the black cat kwami, it was clear that his father's words had brought down his mood even further.

"I thought you didn't want to be in the play?" Plagg eventually said.

"I don't. But it would be nice if my father could at least be happy that I'm cast as a lead. He didn't even ask what play we were doing." He finished the song and paused. "I need to clear my head."

Adrien pulled out his phone and pulled up a recording of his playing. He hit play and put it onto the speakers on his piano. Grabbing a remote, he opened one of the windows on the wall. "Plagg, claws out!"

With a burst of green magic, and a groan from Plagg as he was sucked into the ring, he went through the motions of his transformation. He jumped out the window and started soaring through the sky, either jumping or using his stick to get to each new rooftop.

He wandered Paris for a while with no destination in mind. Then he reached a roof across the street from where a familiar girl stood on a balcony. Marinette's blackberry hair was unmistakable as she leaned over the railing, looking at the street. It looked like she was talking to someone, but Chat couldn't see anybody else with her. She looked stressed, and he had a feeling he knew what about.

Propelling himself forward, he landed behind her on the rooftop. Marinette spun around, going into a fighting stance. That surprised him. He didn't think she had any sort of fight training other than the one time she had come to his fencing class.

When her eyes rested on him, she relaxed. "Chat Noir?" she asked, confused.

Chat grinned, his green eyes twinkling as he dropped down to the balcony with her. "The one and only."

"What are you doing at my house?" her bluebell eyes watched him awkwardly.

"I was just making some rounds and I saw you sitting here. You looked kind of stressed. Is something wrong?" he said.

Marinette laughed nervously, her hand going to the back of her head. "Nothing that a hero like you needs to worry about. Just my own problems."

He cocked his head. "You looked pretty distressed, talking about it might help." He leaned against the wall, looking at her with inquisitive eyes. She seemed to be avoiding his, her eyes occasionally glancing downward.

"I really don't think you'd care. You must have enough on your plate dealing with the people that have been akumatized, along with whatever you do when you're not a superhero," she said.

"And what kind of superhero would I be if I left the damsel in distress alone with her distress?" he asked, winking at her.

She looked up at him. "Superheroes don't deal with the damsel in distress. That would be a fairytale prince." Marinette crossed her arms, looking remarkably like Ladybug for just a moment. Then her words seemed to hit her. Her cheeks went pink and she dropped her arms, looking embarrassed.

"I can be your fairytale prince," Chat Noir said jokingly. "Seriously, why don't you just talk to me? I'm here and I want to help."

Marinette sighed, going back to her position against the railing. "My friends are forcing me to be in this play, but I know I'm just going to make a fool of myself. I'll never hear the end of it if I can't do it well."

Chat Noir walked over, leaning against the railing next to her. His eyes looked at her as she talked, though her eyes were downcast. "What makes you think that you're not going to do well?"

"You don't know me, but I'm not exactly graceful. I'm super clumsy, and with A- ah, someone involved, I don't think I'll be able to get my words out straight. I just wish I could get out of this thing."

Chat's eyes widened. He wanted to comfort her as Adrien, but reminded himself just in time that he wasn't Adrien, he was Chat Noir. He put a gloved hand gently on her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll do great. Plays are all about memorizing, so just make sure to get lots of practice. Practice makes purrfect after all."

Marinette looked up at him, rolling her eyes. "I'm starting to see why people tend to like Ladybug more than you," she said jokingly.

He put his hand to his chest, pretending to be hurt. "I'm wounded! Milady is wonderful, but I've still got my own fans. Everyone likes a devilishly handsome superhero, after all."

She laughed, making Chat smile even wider. His life may not be so great right now, but at least he could help Marinette feel better about her role. He looked out over Paris. She has a great view from up here, he thought.

"So what's your play about?" he asked. If he didn't it might seem suspicious.

Once again, Marinette looked down. "It's, uh. It's a play about, uh, about you and Ladybug. My friends wrote it, and they're making me be Ladybug."

Despite already knowing this information, Chat couldn't help but grin. "You're doing a play about me and Ladybug? Your friends must be great fans of us as well. If you're Ladybug, who you'll be wonderful at, then who's me?"

Her face went pink again, but this time she was able to meet his gaze. "You know the fashion designer Gabriel Agreste?"

He nodded, thinking of a quick reaction he might give if he didn't know that he was the one playing himself. "I hope he's not playing me. A bit old, and grumpy, don't you think?"

"No, he's not. It's actually his son, Adrien," she said.

"Well, if anyone can capture my essence it would be a model, wouldn't it?" Chat Noir smiled, but couldn't help feeling strange. He was talking about himself like he wasn't even there. It was always strange when he had to do that. At least this time there was no akuma involved.

"I'm sure he'll get you down perfectly. He's great at what he does." Her voice went a bit higher as she said that.

I'm really glad to have her as a friend if she thinks that, he thought.

The two of them stood there for a while, talking and watch as the sun slowly crept further towards the horizon in the Paris sky. He wasn't sure how much later it was when he remembered that he was supposed to be in his room.

"What time is it?" he asked suddenly, cutting their current topic of conversation short.

"Uh, 6:04," Marinette said, looking at her phone. Chat's eyes widened.

"I've gotta go!" He jumped up on the railing, looking around until he found the direction of his house. Before he left, he turned back to her to say one more thing. "Good luck with your play. You'll steal the entire show."

With that, he jumped to the next building and was racing back to his house before Nathalie would come get him for dinner.


	3. Chapter Three: Atomizer

**Chapter Three: Atomizer**

"Chat Noir is right, Marinette," Tikki said as they watched him leave. "If you can't find a way to get out of it, you'll do amazing in the play. You are Ladybug after all." The kwami flew next to Marinette, who climbed back down to her room.

"But what if I can't get out of it? Even if I do manage to act with Adrien, I can't act too well. If I'm too good they'll find out that I'm actually Ladybug, and if they find out that I'm Ladybug, then everything I've gone through to keep my secret is out the window!" Marinette sat in her desk chair, spinning a few times before coming to a stop to stare at the script again.

Since the time she'd gotten home after school, she had spent a lot of time looking through it. For two people who had never written a play before, it was surprisingly good. They'd even written in several jokes for Chat Noir, though they lacked the frequency of the real Chat. Even for Marinette, who couldn't help but feel odd reading about herself, the story was incredibly compelling. The akumatized person they fought was very realistic, and the last act even had them facing Hawk Moth himself. Marinette could only hope that when they did face him it went so well.

"You'll just have to be careful onstage. I still don't think the play is a great idea, but I don't think Alya is going to give you much of a choice," Tikki said.

Marinette sighed, pushing the play out of the way and grabbing her tablet from her bag. "I'd better get started on my other assignments. I can always figure out a game plan tomorrow, right?" Tikki nodded in agreement, and she set to work.

After half an hour of sitting there, working on her homework, Marinette couldn't take it anymore. She tossed down the pen and flung herself onto her bed, staring at the ceiling.

"What's wrong, Marinette?" Tikki asked, following her master to the bed.

Another large sigh escaped the girl. "How am I ever going to watch how I act around Adrien? What if I slip right into being Ladybug so I can get two words out?"

Tikki floated down and gently tapped Marinette's shoulder. "You'll do great. If you can fight akumas every week, you can act in a play."

Marinette turned her head, looking at the corkboard covered with pictures of her friends. And Adrien. Lots of pictures of Adrien. Mostly pictures of Adrien. She reached her hand up and touched one that she had cut out from a fashion magazine his father owned. His green eyes shone so brightly, looking just to the side of the camera. The happiness there was so genuine, she often found herself wondering what he had been looking at at the time.

"Maybe," she said, her hand dropping down to the bed. She turned and looked at her kwami, a faint smile gracing her lips. "I don't know how you're always so optimistic, Tikki."

Tikki laughed. "Thousands of years can do that."

With what remained of the day, Marinette worked on her homework and stared at the play. Her mother brought her up some food when she explained how much work she had to do. She picked at her meal idly while she worked. At eleven she finally finished and returned to her bed. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

She dreamt of her racing through Paris as Ladybug, Chat Noir next to her. The wind through her hair as she swung from building to building was a feeling that she couldn't believe she had ever lived without. Her yo-yo wrapped around chimneys and spires, doing exactly what she wanted without much of a thought.

They stopped at the Eiffel Tower, sitting down and looking out. Ladybug glanced to the side and looked at Chat Noir. He looked back, a grin spread over his face. She frowned, noticing that the usually joyful look didn't quite reach his eyes. Instead, he looked sad.

"I've loved this time with you, Bugaboo," he said, his voice forlorn.

"Are you okay, Chat?" she asked, the view leaving her mind upon seeing her friend so sad.

Chat shrugged, looking away from her. For the longest time, he didn't say anything but remained quiet. When Ladybug couldn't take it anymore, she spoke.

"You can tell me. Let me help," she said desperately.

He opened his mouth to say something when Marinette was awoken by her alarm.

She sat up quickly, her eyes wide. What was that? she thought. In a sort of trance, she grabbed her phone and turned off the alarm. Tikki woke up next to her, rubbing her eyes with her hands.

"Are you okay, Marinette?" the red kwami asked, echoing Marinette's own words from her dream.

Marinette nodded. "Y-yeah. I'm fine. Just a weird dream, is all." She shook herself out of her stupor, making herself get ready for the day. When she went downstairs for breakfast the dream was pushed from her mind. She had light conversation with her mother while her father worked the bakery.

"Love you, honey!" her mother called as she left for school. Marinette waved to her parents and started the walk to her school building.

Alya was waiting for her on the steps, a few feet from where Nino was greeting Adrien. Marinette frowned slightly at the look Adrien had when he glanced at the silver car pulling away. He looked almost… sorrowful.

"What'd you think of the script?" Alya asked her excitedly.

"I-I loved it!" Marinette said, drawing her eyes away from Adrien. "It's all so well-written and planned, how long did you and Nino take to write this?"

"Oh, we've been working on this for a while. It was just fun at first, but then we realized we could use it to help you out." Alya turned and walked with Marinette into the school. "I'm glad you got the chance to read through it. We're doing tryouts for casting today, and we were thinking that you and Adrien could practice reading lines."

They walked into the classroom, where a very blonde, very angry girl stopped them from moving more than a few feet.

"She," Chloe jabbed a finger towards Marinette, "will not be reading lines with Adrien. I will be the one that will be acting with him in your weird little play."

Alya folded her arms and returned Chloe's glare. "Nino and I are the directors, Chloe. We're the ones that make casting decisions, not you!" She pushed past her, dragging Marinette to their seats in the second row.

Chloe's face scrunched up in further anger, and she stalked over to stand in front of their desk. She whipped out her phone and showed the contact for her father - the mayor of Paris. "You are going to cast me as Ladybug or my father will make sure that this play never makes it beyond its grubby little pages."

"Seriously, Chloe?" Marinette said. "You always have to ruin a good thing, don't you? You can always have some other part in the play. There are several."

"Are those other parts Ladybug? I won't stand to be anything less than the best," Chloe retorted. Her finger hovered over the call button threateningly. "Daddy is a busy man, and he won't take kindly if you take time out of his busy schedule."

"Why are you calling your father, Chloe?" Adrien asked. Chloe whirled around, giving Marinette a view of the young model who had just walked into the room. His face looked so innocent, not realizing what the girl was doing. Nino and several other classmates had entered behind him, all of them already glaring at her.

"Adrikins!" Chloe hurried down to where he stood, her arms wrapping around his neck as she hugged him. She purposefully had the hug last just longer than would have been appropriate for friends before she pulled away. "Don't you agree that I should be Ladybug in this play thingy? Marinette will just ruin it for everybody if she goes onto that stage."

Adrien looked down at Chloe, then looked at Marinette. "You'd be fine as Ladybug, too, but I think that Marinette can live up to the role."

Marinette felt blood rush to her cheeks at the compliment. Chloe, on the other hand, was shocked. For just a moment, all the girl could do was stare.

 _"Her?"_ she demanded. "You think that klutz could do Ladybug justice? If she can even remember her lines, she's bound to fall off the stage in the first scene! Wouldn't you prefer to be on stage with me?"

He shrugged. "You're always in the spotlight, why not give Marinette a chance? There are plenty of other characters that you can be, why not try out for one of those? Or do costume and makeup. You like clothes, don't you?"

The shock remained on her face for a brief moment before she composed herself. "Of course I like clothes! But costume and makeup is the work of servants! Daddy wouldn't want me to have anything less than Ladybug!"

"Chill out, Chloe," Nino said. "Alya and I are in charge of casting, and we've decided that Marinette is Ladybug."

If Marinette had been drinking water, she would have choked. She knew the words 'Marinette is Ladybug' had nothing to do with her actual secret, but nonetheless she felt her heart begin to race. All of the worries she'd had the night before returned to her in full. What if they DO find out? What will I do?

Chloe huffed, returning to her seat next to Sabrina in the front row. Nino smiled at Alya, and Adrien smiled at Marinette. It lasted only a second before he returned to his seat, but the look stunned the girl for more than one reason. Reason number one - the reason Marinette knew Alya would assume - was that Adrien Agreste had just smiled at her. Reason two was the look in his eyes. She saw an awful lot of anxiety and worry in his gaze, enough to reflect what she felt. Was it possible that the famous model was also worried about this play?

Alya elbowed her, bringing Marinette back down to Earth and out of those stunning, mint-green eyes. "Roll call," Alya whispered to her.

School that day could only be described as dull. Chloe kept shooting Marinette and Alya dirty looks, but the pair knew that she wouldn't do anything. Not when Adrien had essentially endorsed Marinette as the part of Ladybug instead of her. The primadonna was many things, but she did do her best to keep one of her only friends liking her. Even if that meant sometimes she had to keep her massive, beyond-inflated ego in check.

The bell rang for the last class of the day, and Alya and Nino stood up quickly to organize people for casting. It seemed like everybody would be staying to audition or be assigned their backstage roles.

"I can do all technical work for the play," Max said immediately. He had approached the two directors as soon as he could get through the crowd.

"We figured you'd want to," Nino said. "Do you want anyone to help you? It might be a lot of work."

Max shook his head, pushing his glasses up on his face. "I can easily handle the load. I glanced through the script last night, so I should get a full workup of what we need by tomorrow morning."

"That's awesome! You're the best, Max!" Alya said. Max smiled and returned to his seat, where he seemed to be meticulously going over the script.

Marinette reached for her backpack and pulled out her own script. Alya and Nino started explaining how auditions were going to work, but Marinette didn't pay attention. Printed on the cover was the title:

 _The Tale of Ladybug and Chat Noir_

"Great title, don't you think?"

She jumped, spinning around to face the person that had approached her, barely staying in her seat. Adrien put his hand up, evidently shocked that she reacted so violently.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he said lightly. He sat down in Alya's empty seat, his own script in his hand. "Do you mind if I sit here since we're the only ones that are memorizing lines?"

Marinette nodded hurriedly. "O-of course!"

They sat there for several minutes, both looking down at the script. The idea of what she was having to do kept Marinette from sneaking glances at Adrien like she normally might. In fact, if either of them had been less distracted, they would have noticed that after ten minutes they were both still staring at the top of the first page.

"Th-thanks. About earlier," Marinette was the one to finally break their silence. "Without you, Chloe would've had the play shut down for sure."

Adrien looked up, clearly having just been deep in thought. "Oh, right. Yeah, no problem. Chloe can be a little overbearing sometimes, and Nino and Alya have worked really hard to write this. Nino said that they've been writing it for a long time."

"Y-yeah. Alya the same thing said. Alya said the same thing." A deep blush spread over her cheeks, and she looked away from his curious eyes.

As if he could tell some of what she was thinking, Adrien said, "You don't have to be nervous. I go in front of a camera all the time, performing really isn't as bad as people make it seem. You just need to ignore the audience."

Marinette turned towards his kind expression, about to speak when something crashed through the window. A man landed on a desktop, his face cruel as he looked around the room. He wore a white lab coat over a black, full-body leotard. His skin was an ashen grey, his hair was a lighter grey that stood out in random places, and his mask was black like his suit. On his chest was a red symbol of what looked like a beaker one would use in chemistry. Slung over his shoulder was a deep red satchel.

He raised a hand, a red haze forming around it. Marinette watched in shock as he clenched his fists and all of the desks in the room vanished into puffs of smoke.

A hand grabbed her arm, and she turned to see Adrien pulling her towards the door amidst the smog. Fighting the urge to melt at his touch, Marinette followed him and they raced for the door. They paused only when they heard a yelp.

"Let me go!" Max yelled. The smoke was slowly vanishing, and they could see the akumatized victim in front of him. It appeared that Max was now tied in some form of strange rope.

"I will never obey you or your father ever again," said the akumatized person, his hand still surrounded in a red haze as some strange block forced Max to walk with him towards the window.

"Mr. Bouchard?" Max asked.

"Atomizer!" he corrected harshly. "You would do well not to get your facts wrong around me!"

Before Marinette could see more of what was happening, Adrien had pulled her through the door with the mass of students trying to escape. Then his hand was gone. Turning around, she saw him running off like most of their classmates.

Shaking out of her stupor, Marinette ran for an empty closet before Alya or anyone else could see she was there. Tikki flew from her jacket, Marinette's own look of urgency mirrored on her face.

"Tikki, spots on!"

After a burst of pink light, Ladybug peaked out of the door to see if there were any more students in the halls. Seeing them empty of fleeing people, she burst out and rushed back to the class. The smoke was completely gone, but so were Max and Atomizer.

She threw her yo-yo and left through the gaping hole in the window. She'd only landed on the next building when her trusty partner landed next to her.

"Good afternoon, Bugaboo," Chat Noir said, looking over and smiling at her.

"Not too good - Hawk Moth's latest victim has already kidnapped somebody," she responded, looking around until she spotted Atomizer. Max, it seemed, was floating next to him and being dragged by one hand.

Chat Noir looked where she was looking. "We'd better help before he does something we'll all regret."

The two of them jumped in time with each other, landing on the next roof and running along it until it ended. Ladybug swung her yo-yo and Chat extended his staff to move through Paris. It didn't take long for them to catch up with Atomizer and Max. As they approached, he turned to look at the two superheroes.

"Let Max go, Atomizer," Ladybug said, landing on the roof nimbly. Chat Noir landed a second later, his staff shrinking to its normal size.

"His father deserves to be punished. He will draw him to me," Atomizer said. A purple butterfly appeared in front of his face for a few seconds, then vanished. "But before I get my sweet revenge, I shall have your Miraculous!"

Ladybug and Chat jumped to the side as strange blocks formed in the air and dropped where they had just been standing. Before Atomizer could do more, they rushed forward. Ladybug swung her yo-yo to free Max. she broke his bonds and quickly swung him down to the streets below while Chat Noir distracted Atomizer.

"Thank you, Ladybug! I think that is my father's partner, Henry Bouchard. From my vantage, I saw something in his bag," Max said.

"That must be where the akuma is. Thank you, Max, and stay safe!" Ladybug returned to the rooftop, landing right after Chat Noir made a strangled scream.

He was dripping wet, and the same type of bonds that had held Max had his arms and legs tightly wrapped. Atomizer was reaching towards Chat's right hand, only inches from the black cat Miraculous.

"Hey, Atomizer! Over here!" The villain paused, looking over his shoulder. That gave Ladybug enough time to throw the yo-yo and break the ropes. Chat Noir jumped farther away, then ran to stand next to his partner.

"Thank you for the save, Milady," he said. They backed away as Atomizer turned to face them, clearly very angry.

"How did you get wet?" Ladybug asked.

Chat Noir scrunched his face in distaste, looking at the drops of water sliding down his suit. "He can change the state of matter objects are in. That's what he's been using as rope - it's really just air. He turned the air above me into water. You know a cat doesn't like to get wet."

They dodged, a stream of water forming above them. "I think it's time for a little luck," Ladybug said. "Lucky Charm!"

A red and black spotted bottle of cold medicine dropped from her yo-yo and into her hand. She couldn't hide the confusion on her face. These seem to be getting weirder, she thought.

"Feeling sick?" Chat Noir joked. He extended his staff, turning it over and over quickly in his hands to deflect the blocks Atomizer was throwing their way.

Ladybug looked around them, trying to figure out how a bottle of cold medicine could help them. Surprisingly, something did catch her attention. The forming of new blocks from the air, and the Atomizer's hand which was covered in a red haze.

"Got it!" Ladybug took a few steps forward and unstopped the bottle. She held the bottle tight in her hand but tossed the liquid inside it at Atomizer's face.

As she expected, he directed his hand at the liquid and it turned into a puff of smoke right in front of his face. Ladybug grinned as he took his next breath, inhaling the gas. Atomizer started coughing, taking in even more. After a moment he started swaying and fell to his knees, his eyes unfocused.

Ladybug ran forward and took off his satchel. She dug inside and pulled out a laptop. With a good amount of force, she slammed it down onto the rooftop where it shattered. A dark purple butterfly flew out of the remains.

Her finger traced a perfect line down the middle of her yo-yo, revealing a glowing white interior. "Time to de-evilize!" She threw the yo-yo and caught the butterfly inside.

"Bye-bye little butterfly," she said, tapping the yo-yo. A glowing white butterfly emerged. Ladybug tossed the empty bottle she held into the sky. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

A stream of red and black magic left, repairing the laptop, returning the strange blocks back into the air, and then going off to fix the school. A dark purple substance surrounded Atomizer, then melted away and returning him to Henry Bouchard.

* * *

Chat Noir stared at her in awe as she fixed the akuma. She is truly amazing. How does she do that? Then he walked over to her, both of their fists extending.

"Pound it!" they said in unison.

"Looks like you've returned to your normal state," Chat Noir said, looking down at the distraught scientist. From the corner of his enhanced eyesight, he saw Ladybug roll her eyes. That made him smile.

"I-I was akumatized, wasn't I?" Henry's voice shook as he looked up at the heroes.

Ladybug nodded, crouching beside him and resting a comforting hand on his shoulder. "What happened?"

He put a hand to his head, thinking. "My partner and I have been working for over a year on this theory regarding states of matter. He was in charge of getting it published, and somehow my name didn't end up on it with him. H-he apologized, but I just felt so angry about it…"

"I'm sure he didn't do it on purpose," Chat said. "Just talk to him, I'm sure you can fix it."

Ladybug's earrings beeped. It was the second to last spot. Her eyes widened. "Can you handle this, Chat?"

Chat Noir nodded, bowing dramatically. "I'll be seeing you, Milady."

She waved. "Bug out!" Then she was gone.

Chat helped Henry back to his science partner, where they made up easily. He gave a silly good-bye, then left himself. He'd have to figure out a good reason why he vanished from the school so long, assuming his friends were still there.

The entrance was empty, so he snuck inside and transformed back into Adrien without anybody seeing. Plagg left the ring, returning it to the silver color. He flew next to Adrien, looking tired.

"You brought camembert with you today, didn't you?" he said, half whining. "I'm exhausted."

Adrien rolled his eyes, his mind thinking back to Ladybug as he did. "I brought a wedge, but I have to get to my stuff. Just get in my jacket." He held it open and Plagg flew inside.

He walked to the classroom, walking in to see all of his classmates back inside. When he entered, Nino and Chloe ran up to him.

"Dude, where'd you go off to? None of us saw where you went and we've been worried!" his friend said.

Adrien held up a hand defensively. "I just, uh, got a bit scared. I found somewhere to hide until I knew that Ladybug and Chat Noir had fixed everything." This response seemed to comfort his friends.

He went over to his stuff - which was now in Alya's usual seat. Marinette looked relieved to see him safe. "Sorry, Marinette, but I'm not going to be able to read any lines today. With the attack, my bodyguard is going to be here to pick me up in a few minutes. I'll see you tomorrow." He slung the bag over his shoulder, covertly sneaking a piece of cheese from it into his jacket.

Marinette, along with half the class, waved to him as he left.


	4. Chapter Four: Distractions

**I know this chapter took me longer to** **get out than the others, but it wasn't for lack of trying. The next should be out sooner, but I'm going to strive for no more than a week between chapters. Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, and reviewed, you have no idea how much I appreciate it. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter Four: Distractions**

At school the next day, Alya and Nino announced the official casted parts for the play.

"Obviously, we have Marinette and Adrien as Ladybug and Chat Noir," Nino said. Both students gripped their styluses a little tighter at the words. "As our akuma victim, Storyteller, we've decided on Nathaniel."

"Our publisher, who Nathaniel will be after, is Chloe," Alya said. She looked towards the girl triumphantly, daring her to question her authority. It looked like she might, too, but when she looked over at Adrien she just hunkered down in her seat, pouting. "And Hawk Moth is going to be played by Kim."

"Max is tech, obviously," Nino said. "Rose and Juleka will be our primary costume and makeup people. Mylene will be the main focus for props, though our side characters - Ivan, Sabrina, and Alix - will be helping her."

Marinette was glad to see that everyone but Chloe seemed okay with their roles.

As the day progressed, she noticed everyone peeking at their scripts when they had the chance. Every time she saw someone do so, her anxiety rose. So much of the pages were something Ladybug had to say. So many lines were things she had to memorize.

All of her many responsibilities flashed through her head. She had all of her regular schoolwork, helping her parents in the bakery, babysitting Manon, her duties as class rep, fighting all of the akumas, and even the patrols she went on with Chat Noir. She had one of those today. Now she had to add not only the scheduled practices but time to memorize and practice on her own. Not to mention she'd still like to get some designing done if she could.

I'm going to have to maximize my time. Maybe I should memorize at lunch.

That's exactly what she did. At lunch she sat on a bench in the courtyard, intent to spend the time until next class memorizing. That idea was quickly dashed when Alya approached her, bringing with her Nino and Adrien.

"Do you mind if we sit with you, Marinette?" Alya asked.

Marinette looked up, ready to explain that she needed peace, but her brain short-circuited at the sight of Adrien. "I- uh, o-of course," was all she managed to say. She made to move over, but Alya stopped her, giving her friend a sly smile. She sat on Marinette's left and Nino sat on the opposite end of the bench.

Adrien smiled awkwardly, taking the last seat. The seat directly on Marinette's right.

"Don't you normally leave for lunch?" Adrien asked, looking at the small snack Marinette had on her lap.

Alya looked down as well, frowning. "Yeah, girl, don't you normally go home? I thought your parents made you lunch."

"Well, they do. I, just, uh, decided to stay today," Marinette said. She smiled shyly. Alya gave her a strange look but didn't comment. Instead, the small group started discussing the homework they had due next period.

"It took me forever to do. I swear, these assignments are nearly impossible sometimes," Nino said. Alya and Marinette nodded in agreement.

"I don't know, it wasn't too hard," Adrien said. Marinette, along with Alya and Nino, stared at him in shock. Adrien winced at the looks.

"Sorry. I learned a lot of the science stuff from my tutors. It's just kind of a review for me," he said. "I can help you guys sometime if you need it."

They spoke for a few more minutes, the conversation mostly between Nino, Adrien, and Alya. When they reached a pause in the conversation - it couldn't have been more than 30 seconds - Alya brought an end to it.

"So… I just remembered something about the play. Nino and I need to talk about it, but we don't have to bore you guys with the details. It might take a while, so I guess we'll see you in class." Before Marinette could protest, Alya had grabbed Nino's hand and was towing him away across the courtyard. Marinette was left with her arm partly extended and her mouth open a fraction.

"That was weird," Adrien said.

The sound of his voice made Marinette yank her hand back towards her as if a snake had been about to bite. "Y-yeah. Very weird."

"Were you working on the play?" Adrien asked. He pointed to her lap, where the script lay under the snack she'd been slowly eating. "I can't blame you. Finding time to memorize it is going to be a nightmare."

"Tell me about it," Marinette said dejectedly. Before she could say more, Adrien's phone started ringing.

He smiled an apology at her, taking it out. "Sorry, I have to take this. It's my father." He stood up and walked several feet away, where no one would be able to overhear him.

Marinette did her best not to watch him, but it was hard for her not to notice how his shoulders slumped only a few moments into the conversation. The conversation didn't last very long. When he returned to the bench, he didn't say anything. Looking up at him, Marinette was shocked by the look on his face.

She had always known Adrien to be a very happy, upbeat person. He was always the first to smile, the first to find the good in every situation, the first to offer encouragement for other people. She had always seen him as someone who always stood tall, always stood up for himself and others. The person she now looked at was one who had been beaten down. Defeated. It was nothing like the Adrien she'd built up in her head. He was so much more.

* * *

Marinette placed a hand gently on his arm, easing the coldness he felt with a touch of warmth. He looked up at her and was surprised to see only kindness. There was no shadow of pity like he would have seen with Nino, or confusion like he would have seen with Chloe. Her bluebell eyes only showed kindness and worry.

"You okay?" she asked.

He shrugged in response, looking back down. "Just stuff with my father. Nothing I shouldn't expect." That doesn't make it suck any less, though, he thought.

"Do you wanna talk about it? I'm a great listener," Marinette said. She smiled at him, then a bit of color rushed to her face. She pulled her hand away suddenly as if just realizing it had still been on his arm. "U-unless you don't want to, of course."

The return of her stutter made the corners of his mouth turn upwards in a small smile. It was strange to be on the receiving end of her comfort. Adrien had seen her work her magic on other students in their class, but she hadn't yet turned it on him. At least, until now.

"Thanks, Marinette. You're a good friend," he said. "My father just doesn't know how to sugar coat things, is all."

That wasn't a lie. His father had been very blunt when telling him the news that would ruin Adrien's entire winter break.

"Whatever he said, I'm sure he has your best interest at heart," Marinette said. Her smile was so genuine, Adrien was tempted to believe her words. Everything in his heart wanted to believe them, wanted to believe that his father didn't realize what he was doing.

"You're right," Adrien found himself saying. "Sometimes it's hard to remember that."

"I'm sure you're great. Er, I mean, I'm sure he's great. Your father might be strict, but it's clear that he loves you," she said. "I mean, he makes sure you have all of your lessons, he pays for you to have a bodyguard. To me that says he loves you."

This made Adrien's small smile widen. "I guess it does."

Before they could say any more, the bell rang. The sound shocked Adrien. He'd almost forgotten that they were still in school. He stood up from the bench, and Marinette quickly followed. His gaze was drawn to the script she had in her hand.

"Sorry if I got in the way of your memorizing. I appreciate you helping me after... that." He waved his hand vaguely to where he'd gone with his phone call. "If there's ever anything I can do to repay you, let me know."

He walked with her to class, oblivious to the color in her cheeks the entire time. When they got to the classroom, Alya and Nino were already in their seats. Alya seemed overly excited to talk to Marinette, who's cheeks became a deeper shade of red. Even Nino was smiling more than he should have.

"You look happy. How was lunch?" Nino asked. It seemed like he was asking a question behind his question, but Adrien couldn't figure out what.

"It was fine. What did you and Alya have to talk about?" he asked, glad he could finally ask what had been so important it couldn't wait.

"Just some ideas about sets and props, nothing to worry about," Nino replied. "Did anything interesting happen after we left?"

"Not really," Adrien lied. "Marinette and I were just talking. Why? What are you wanting me to say?"

Nino sighed, shaking his head. "If you don't know, there's no point in telling you."

Adrien gave his friend a perplexed look. He opened his mouth to ask more questions when Ms. Mendeleiev called the class to order.

* * *

Chat Noir sat on one of the beams of the Eiffel Tower, waiting for Ladybug to show up. It had been some time since they'd gone on patrol together. When they weren't fighting akumas, they only saw each other when they were patrolling.

Since Dark Owl, they had only been dealing with akumas. Being overcautious, Ladybug had insisted on postponing patrols after the close call they had. Their kwamis knew who the other was, and they couldn't risk discovering it themselves. Or at least, that's what they said. No matter what, he would respect her wishes, but that didn't stop Chat from fantasizing. He could picture the two of them spending time together outside of their masks. Going to the movies, drinking coffee, maybe even spending his suddenly bleak Christmas together.

If he knew who she was, he might have more of a chance with her. If she could get to know the facets of Adrien that didn't bleed through as Chat, maybe she would actually start to like him. Enough of his fans seemed to like him as Adrien. If only she knew that knowing her identity wouldn't hurt. No matter who she was, he would fight tooth and claw to protect her. Maybe that was her problem.

"What are you dreaming about, Kitty?" Ladybug said, her melodic tones light.

Chat turned his head to look at his partner. "Just your beautiful face, Bugaboo," he teased. She was sitting on the beam above him, and he had been so lost in his thoughts he'd failed to notice her arrival.

Ladybug wrapped her yo-yo around her beam and dropped down to sit next to him. "You look like you have something on your mind."

"I'm just glad that you finally agreed to start patrolling again, Milady. My evenings have become rather boring."

"You know why we had to postpone, Chat. We were so close to discovering each other's identities," Ladybug said. "We're friends, and I don't want to risk that friendship."

Friendship. The word was like a dagger in Chat's heart. However, much like she glossed over his jokes, he chose to ignore her unintentional jab like he always did. Instead, he stood up and looked out over Paris. She stood up next to him and for just a moment they stood in silence.

"We should get going. There's no point in scheduling a patrol if we're just going to sit here," she said. She swung her yo-yo, wrapped her arm around him, and they were yanked from the tower.

He reveled in the feeling of her pulling him so close to her. But all too soon, the closeness was over. They landed on a rooftop and she moved away from him. They started moving from roof to roof, watching the streets below. Chat listened hard, using the enhanced hearing granted by his powers to locate anything suspicious. The main point of their patrols was to look out for akumas, but they had managed to help with less magical things as well. It could be helping an old lady cross the street, or stopping a robbery when the police wouldn't risk going inside.

"Do you hear anything?" Ladybug asked.

Chat shook his head. "Nothing. Paris is quiet tonight."

After another half hour of wandering, mixed with occasional conversation, Ladybug stopped. Chat stopped beside her, following her gaze. His eyes widened when he saw the Agreste Mansion. "Is something wrong, Milady?" he asked, forcing his voice to remain even. Why would she be interested in my house? Didn't we decide Father wasn't Hawk Moth? Did she find more evidence?

Ladybug started, turning away from the building. "Just lost in thought, is all. Let's keep going. We can cover a lot more ground before I need to get home."

"What's at home that has you so captivated?" Chat asked, following her as she continued on with the patrol. "There's certainly nothing at my house that would make me want to spend less time with you."

"Some of us have things we have to do, Chat Noir," Ladybug said sternly.

"I've got plenty of things to do, but that doesn't mean I want to. Sometimes it's easier to forget your responsibilities for a while." Chat was already expecting her response.

She turned to him incredulously. "Forgetting your responsibilities just makes things worse. You can't ignore things just because you don't want to face them."

"You don't have to forget them forever," Chat reasoned, jumping to the next rooftop. "You have to admit that it's nice to get out and be a hero. We have a perspective up here that no one else has. We can do things no one else can do. It's nice to have the chance to come out here for a little bit and clear your head."

"Don't you have things as a civilian that clear your head?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Sure I do, but none of them are quite so effective."

Ladybug watched him carefully while they moved. The intensity of her gaze made him uncomfortable. Normally he would have welcomed her staring, but the scrutiny with which she did it now was too much.

"Is everything okay, Chat?" she finally asked, stopping.

Chat spread his mouth in a smile. "Everything is fine, LB. Just trying to lead a conversation." He avoided looking directly in her eyes, instead continuing to look in the direction they had been traveling.

Ladybug walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He stiffened, the feeling of her hand sending a wave of electricity through him. He couldn't help but wonder if she knew that his heart rate increased at just her touch.

"Someone once told me that when times are hard, we need to find things that make us happy. 'Cause those things can make the world of difference when you need them." She spoke quietly, though it wasn't quite a whisper.

He turned to her, an idea formulating in his head. "That person knows what they're talking about, Milady."

She removed her hand, bringing up her yo-yo to look at the time. "I have to go, Chat. I'll see you next patrol. Bug out!" Ladybug gave him one last worried look before she swung her way through the streets of Paris.

Chat watched her go, then started home, smiling. His father's news that he would be on a business trip during Christmas, and that Adrien would not be permitted to leave the estate, wasn't so bad. Between Marinette and Ladybug, things seemed brighter. After all, just because Adrien couldn't leave the house didn't mean that Chat Noir was trapped as well.


	5. Chapter Five: Shopping

**Chapter Five: Shopping**

"Tikki, spots off."

Marinette felt her Ladybug disguise fall, and Tikki flew out of her earrings. She stood on her balcony, her transformation masked by the darkness that had started to fall. The sun had sunk rapidly in the few minutes it took her to travel back home. There were now only a few rays of light in the sky, and the latch on her skylight was covered in shadow. She felt for where she knew it was and opened it so she could climb down into her bedroom. Tikki flew down and turned on the light for her.

"Chat Noir was acting strange today," the red kwami mused.

"I know. I hope everything is okay," Marinette said. She pulled out her script with a sigh. "I'd love to help him out, but that would risk finding out our identities."

Tikki went over to her, sitting on the top of her computer monitor. "Don't worry, Marinette. I think you said the right thing. He seemed better when you left. Kind of like when you were talking to Adrien."

The image of the Agreste Mansion entered Marinette's head. When they'd passed on patrol, she had stopped without thinking. The sight of it had made her heart flutter, making her remember her talk with the young model. Not only had she been able to say coherent sentences to him, but what she said had helped. It had made him smile. He'd looked so sad, but had returned to class happy. And it was all because of Marinette. Even the fact that he had once again called her a friend couldn't bring the girl down. His smile as he walked with her to class was all that she could think about.

"Earth to Marinette," Tikki said.

Marinette let out a startled yelp, falling from her seat. Tikki giggled above her. "Were you thinking about Adrien again?" Tikki asked.

"W-what makes you think that? I was just lost in my thoughts, is all. Just wondering what had Chat Noir acting weird tonight." Marinette picked herself up off the floor and returned to her seat.

Tikki shook her head. "You don't tend to think about Chat Noir with that dreamy expression. Not unless there's something between you two I didn't notice?"

Marinette glared at her. "You know very well that I have no feelings for Chat Noir!" she huffed, crossing her arms.

Tikki laughed again. "So you admit you were thinking about Adrien?"

"M-maybe. I just can't believe I was able to talk to him without sounding like an idiot! He seemed really down, but I was still able to say something. And I even helped cheer him up!" She put her hands on her cheeks and stared at a nearby picture of Adrien on her wall. The dreamy expression returned to her face.

"Of course you did, Marinette. You're always very good at making people feel better. It's like you already had your own superpower!" Tikki said warmly.

They laughed, Marinette once more shaken out of her staring. Tikki floated down, perching on the edge of the computer keyboard. The movement brought the dark-haired girl's attention to the school work and tablet resting on the desk. Ms. Mendeleiev had given even more homework to prepare them for the upcoming test. After the hour of Alya grilling her for information after school, and Marinette's attempts to answer without giving too much away about their friend's despair, there had been very little time to work on it before leaving for patrol with Chat Noir. She was lucky her parents had let her eat in her bedroom again, or she would've missed their meeting altogether.

"How am I ever going to find time to work on everything, Tikki? This homework takes so long figure out, and I only have so many free hours during the day!" Marinette slumped in her seat.

"Maybe you can start a study group during your period in the library," Tikki suggested. "I'm sure other people in your class could use help as well."

Marinette perked up. "That's a great idea, Tikki! Alya and Nino said they were having trouble too, I'm sure I could get them to start a group." It was as if having this plan gave her new strength. She picked up her pen and started busily working.

A while later, she finally went to sleep. The second that her head touched the pillow and her eyes were closed, she was asleep.

* * *

The weekend went by uneventfully. There were no akumas and no other pressing issues with any of Marinette's friends. She helped her parents out in the bakery, hung out with Alya who helped her memorize for the play, and spent some time in the park working on her design book. She also spent plenty of time fretting about whether or not she should go see Adrien as he worked on a photoshoot on the Seine.

Monday came and went without incident. Nino and Alya had agreed to the study group before she could even finish the sentence. Nino even said Adrien might come on the days he wasn't in his fencing class. They spent that day in the library studying, collectively struggling to find the answers to their homework.

Marinette went home with all but a few things done, eternally grateful that Tikki had mentioned forming a study group.

Her parents were busy in the bakery when she got home, so she went up to her room with only a wave and a brief hello. She put her backpack down and climbed up to her balcony. She didn't have another patrol with Chat scheduled until later that week, but she was going to do a solo patrol.

"Why are you going without Chat Noir, Marinette?" Tikki asked.

"It's been several days since the last akuma, Tikki. Hawk Moth is going to do something soon, I can feel it. I'm not going to be out long, but I want to get a look around just in case," Marinette said.

Tikki scrutinized her for a moment, then nodded. Marinette smiled, checking that there was no one passing by on the sidewalk below before she transformed. The magic spread over her, and Marinette was clad once more in her red and black suit, yo-yo strapped safely at her waist.

She was only moving for a few minutes when she saw someone running. Her eyes darted in the direction they'd come from but didn't see anything. Frowning, Ladybug swung down a ways in front of them, giving them just enough time to stop.

"What are you run… ning… from…" Ladybug felt color rush to her cheeks - an event that happened very rarely as Ladybug.

Adrien struggled to a stop, his eyes wide as he stared back at her. If Ladybug hadn't known better, she would've sworn that his cheeks went red as well. For what seemed like an eternity, but in reality must have lasted only a moment, their eyes met.

"L-Ladybug?" he asked uncertainly, breaking the spell.

"Uh, yeah! You're Adrien Agreste, aren't you?" she asked, trying to hide her nerves. The Ladybug mask helped her keep her cool, but nonetheless, she could tell this would be a difficult conversation for her.

"You know who I am?" Adrien asked in awe. Someone walked past behind him, and he whirled around in worry. He relaxed upon seeing someone that just kept walking.

This intrigued her. "What were you running from? Is somebody after you?" she asked, looking in the direction he'd come, ready to protect him.

"Uh, kind of?" Before he could say more, a silver car drove by on the street. He dived behind her, doing his best to hide behind her slim frame. Ladybug looked in the car and recognized the hulking form of Adrien's bodyguard.

"Is that your bodyguard?" Ladybug asked, turning to face him once the car had gone by. Adrien straightened out, moving to keep Ladybug between himself and the vehicle.

He smiled sheepishly. "Uh, yeah. I kind of slipped away from him after my Chinese lesson… But, uh, you probably don't care about that. Wait. Is there an akuma?" Adrien hurried and looked around the both of them.

"What? Oh, no! I'm just out on patrol." Ladybug placed a reassuring hand on Adrien's shoulder before she could think about what she was doing. They both tensed, looking down at the hand with two pairs of wide eyes. For another moment, it was like they were frozen in space and unable to move. Neither seemed willing to break it, but the sound of a car driving by made them both move. Ladybug pulled her hand back, feeling her cheeks burn.

Adrien's eyes found hers, but both looked away quickly. He looked at the approaching car and his eyes widened. "Crap! I'm sorry, Mi- uh, Ladybug, but I've got to go!" The model turned and started running in the opposite direction of the road.

Ladybug turned and saw what had freaked him out. The car driven by his bodyguard had returned, and apparently, this time he had seen Adrien. He kept looking at the running form, navigating the streets to follow him.

Before she even knew what she was doing, Ladybug started running after Adrien. With her enhanced endurance and strength granted by her powers, she was able to catch up with him easily. "Why are you running from your bodyguard?" she demanded.

He kept running, checking to see if his bodyguard could still see him. He didn't seem phased by the fact that Ladybug was following him. In fact, the two of them seemed to run together rather well. "I'm not allowed to leave the house alone, and I'm trying to get my friends Christmas gifts!" he said, turning a corner sharply to get into an alleyway.

That stunned her, almost stopping her from keeping up with him. His father won't let him buy Christmas gifts? Why's that? The idea made her sad. She knew Adrien's dad had been strict, but she didn't think he would resort to something like this. To prevent his son from buying gifts for his friends. No wonder Adrien had looked so upset after his phone call. His father was a piece of work.

She had only just finished these thoughts when her body started moving without her. It was as if, just for a moment, Ladybug was someone else and Marinette was just a thought process in the back of her head. Her red-covered arm stopped Adrien from running, then tightly wrapped an arm around him, pulling him close. The other hand swung her yo-yo, carrying the model into the sky and onto a roof. This happened several more times, taking them a ways away from where they had been fleeing his bodyguard. Finally, she stopped. She let him go on a deserted sidewalk.

Adrien was clearly stunned. Well, so was Marinette. She slowly realized what she had done, though it still felt as if it had been the actions of another person.

"E-everyone deserves to go Christmas shopping," she said nervously. She took a small step away from him, suddenly very aware of how close they were standing.

"Th-thank you, Ladybug," Adrien said. He gave her an admiration filled smile, then slowly started walking away. She followed his lead, going in the other direction. They were only a few paces from where they'd landed when he called her name.

"Ladybug, wait!" Ladybug turned to see him with his hand slightly outstretched. This time she couldn't not notice the color that filled his cheeks. However, his next words drove that swiftly from her mind. "Wh-what if you come with me? If my bodyguard finds me, I may need saving again."

Christmas shopping with Adrien? she internally squealed. Adrien just asked me to go Christmas shopping with him!

"Sure, why not?" Ladybug smiled broadly, then went to walk alongside him.

At first, they drew a few stares. After all, since when did Paris's bug-themed superhero wander the streets with a famous model? Several times on their trip, Ladybug took them to a different street to avoid photos. Each time, they pulled away with their faces tomato red.

The first place they eventually stopped at was a music store. Ladybug felt strange walking in and following Adrien throughout. He walked slowly towards where they kept their electronic equipment, but his gaze lingered as they passed by the pianos on display.

"Do you play?" Ladybug asked. She already knew the answer, but knew that she had to keep up appearances. Besides, Adrien never talked about his piano playing. For all she knew, it could be something that he hated doing. Or something that he loved. She was starting to realize that there was a lot about Adrien she didn't actually know.

Adrien nodded. "Ever since I was a kid. My parents made me at first, but I love the sound and the feeling of playing now. The piano is such a unique instrument, there's nothing that sounds quite like it. Do you know how to play at all?"

Ladybug shook her head. "I, uh, I never really thought about learning. S-so, what are you here to buy?"

"My friend Nino needs a new pair of headphones. He's a DJ, so I was going to get him the best pair I can find. Apparently, there's a really nice pair here." After a few minutes of searching, Adrien found the item he wanted. He grabbed the nicest pair of headphones in the entire store, then went to find a few CDs to go along with it. Ladybug gave him some advice on what to get, her heart rate increased tenfold when their fingers touched to grab the same CD case. Then they went to the counter. The cashier was so enthralled by the presence of Ladybug that he had to ring it up twice, having gotten it wrong the first time.

Next, they went to a jewelry store, where Ladybug stood out even more. It wasn't a store where the workers wore suits and dresses, but they were still dressed much nicer than you would see at another store. Everyone watched them as they looked around the store. Adrien didn't seem fazed, but Ladybug couldn't help but feel strange. She was used to stares as Ladybug, but not normally in enclosed spaces like this. The only distraction she found was looking at the kinds of things Adrien looked at.

He seemed drawn to looking at the nicest jewelry he could find shy of looking at things with actual diamonds in them. Ladybug seemed speechless as they looked, her eyes drawn to every piece they passed. Adrien didn't say much, but every once in a while he glanced up at Ladybug. When he did, she would look back at him, then they would both hurriedly look away.

"What do you think of these earrings?" Adrien asked, holding up a pair of pearl earrings.

"They're cute. Any girl would be lucky to get something like that," she said. "Who- uh, who are they for, anyway?"

Adrien nodded, apparently settled on the earrings. "They're for my friend, Chloe. I normally get her jewelry of some sort for gifts. She's really into fashion, so everything else is too risky. I got her a pair of shoes once, and felt bad when I overheard her saying they didn't match any of her clothes."

Ladybug's jaw clenched. I should've known. They've been friends since they were kids, of course he's going to get her a Christmas present! And something so nice too! Adrien led the way to the counter. As they walked, Ladybug was too caught up in trying to calm herself that she failed to notice when he grabbed a silver pendant necklace as well.

After that, they went to a few other places. They had light conversation, mostly about those Adrien was getting gifts for, but it wasn't quite like talking with a friend. Ladybug still had trouble keeping her voice even as she spoke to him. She was glad for the mask, or she would never have gotten a word out. Even he seemed to be thinking very carefully about the things he was saying.

"I should be going," Ladybug said once they'd left the fourth store. Adrien looked disappointed but nodded.

"Can you…" Adrien paused, taking a deep breath. Then he pulled out a pen and paper, which turned out to be a photo of Ladybug. "Can you sign my photo?"

Ladybug's eyes widened. This is a moment that she would never have expected. Adrien Agreste wanted her autograph as Ladybug. Well, he wanted it as Marinette, why not Ladybug? "I, uh, sure!" She took the picture and pen from him and signed it with the signature she had designed for when she was Ladybug. She handed it back, and he held it almost reverently.

"Be safe, and don't forget to call your bodyguard," she said. "Bug out!"

Before she could talk herself out of it and ended up staying to hang out with Adrien longer, Ladybug left.

* * *

Marinette transformed and climbed down into her room just in time for her mom to call her down for dinner. She sighed in relief. "I'll grab you something at dessert, Tikki. I'm just glad that I made it back in time!"

"You should've spent less time with Adrien," Tikki scolded. "I thought you were supposed to be patrolling."

"I- I was! Just, from below instead of above. Plus, I was protecting Adrien!"

"From his bodyguard?" Tikki asked.

This left Marinette at a loss for words. "Just… just get in my jacket. Unless you want my parents to see you." Tikki obeyed, flying into Marinette's jacket. She went downstairs and joined her parents for dinner.

When it was all done, she snuck a few cookies into her jacket from the counter. She played a few games with her father, all the while being careful to hide the quiet munches coming from her jacket. It wasn't so hard, as both she and her father got far too into their game for there to be any silent moments.

At the end of it all, Marinette returned to her bedroom. Tikki immediately left her hiding place. Marinette sat down on her lounge, thoughts about her day finally taking over. "Tikki… do you realize what happened today?"

"You hung out with Adrien?" she asked.

"Exactly! I hung out with Adrien!" Marinette said, her voice gaining in pitch as she spread her arms in excitement. "I may have been Ladybug, but I still hung out with Adrien! He actually valued my opinion about the things he was buying!"

"He was getting some really nice things," Tikki said. "Those headphones for Nino were top of the line. And the earrings for Chloe were expensive!"

Marinette nodded in agreement "They really were. I wonder why he was spending so much money on these things. I'm sure Nino will be ecstatic, though. I know he's been wanting new headphones."

"I wonder if he got something for you after you left," Tikki said idly.

"W-what? M-me? Why would he get something for me?" Marinette stammered.

Tikki chuckled. "Because even though you struggle to talk to him, you and Alya hang out with him and Nino a lot. He said he was getting gifts for his friends. Well, you definitely fit under that category."

The word 'friend' didn't even register in her mind. "You really think that Adrien might get me something for Christmas?" she said dreamily.

* * *

Adrien got home not long after he parted ways with Ladybug. His bodyguard had found him and forced him to go home. He sat in the back of the car, his gifts next to him. He propped his elbow on the window, resting his head on his hand. As normally happened after spending time with Ladybug, he couldn't get her out of his head.

The way she laughed, or rolled her eyes, at his jokes. The strength with which she held him as they soared through the air. The kindness in her eyes as she helped him escape his bodyguard. Even the feeling of their fists touching at the end of their last akuma fight. And after today… he couldn't believe that he had actually spent time with Ladybug outside of the mask. She had seemed to enjoy it, too.

A clang signified the opening of the gates in front of his house. He looked forward, pushing his daydreams about Ladybug into the back of his mind. He steeled himself for what was coming.

The entrance to the house was large and echoey. Normally, it was empty except for the large painting of him and his father. Today, however, Gabriel Agreste stood at the top of the stairs. His gaze pierced the shield Adrien had attempted to put up. He looked downward, closing his eyes in defeat.

"Why did you run from your bodyguard, Adrien?" he asked firmly.

"I'm sorry, Father. I just wanted to buy my friend's gifts for Christmas," he said, still not meeting his father's eyes. He motioned to the bags his bodyguard had insisted on holding.

"I thought I told you that you were not allowed to go out shopping. Christmas is a busy time, and that means you are more likely to wind up hurt. I will not have you disobeying me again, do you understand?" his father said angrily.

Adrien sighed, hanging his head. "I understand, Father."

"Good. For your disobedience you are grounded. You are permitted to leave the house for schooling and photo shoots only. Tomorrow you will come directly home and practice your piano." He turned to go to his office.

"Wait!" Adrien called, finally looking upwards. "I have practice for the play tomorrow after school."

His father paused and looked back at him. "You should have thought of that before you ran away."

"But- but it's a school assignment, not just something we're doing. I'm being graded on this," Adrien begged.

"Fine. You can attend your practice, but you will not be staying afterwards for any reason. Is that clear?" his father said, clearly not happy.

"Yes, Father. Thank you," Adrien said.


	6. Chapter Six: Gaia

**I'm sorry this chapter ended up taking a week to get out, but I got sick and could not focus long enough to write more than a sentence or two. Chapter seven should hopefully not take as long.**

 **Also - I apologize in advance for the puns, but I couldn't resist.**

* * *

 **Chapter Six: Gaia**

Marinette worked on a new design before school the next day. She and Alya were in their seats, both working on their own things. Alya was working on a draft for her next Ladyblog post, and Marinette was drawing out a design for a new jacket. When Adrien walked in, however, her eyes were drawn upward. He held two boxes in his arms. One was small, which she assumed was Chloe's new pearl earrings. The other was larger. This one he placed on Nino's side of the desk.

"Hey, Chloe," Adrien said. Marinette watched him approached the pampered girl, who sat in her seat as if she ruled the world.

"Adrien!" Chloe exclaimed, jumping from her seat and wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. His eyes widened, and he made no move to reciprocate, but he waited out the hug.

"I brought you your Christmas gift early," Adrien said. Marinette hoped he'd explain why - giving her some hint to what his father had said over the phone - but she had no such luck. "It's been a while since I got you earrings, so I thought I'd get you a pair."

Chloe opened the small box and emitted a high-pitched squeal. "Oh Adrikins, they're beautiful! You have such a great taste in jewelry!" She continued to gush over the earrings and Adrien for several more minutes. It only ended when Nino walked in and Adrien extricated himself from the situation.

"Hey, Nino," he greeted his friend. Marinette cast her eyes back to her paper and pretended to work on her design while actually watching the DJ. She hoped that he would like the CDs she and Adrien had picked out.

"'Sup Adrien. What's the gift for?" Nino asked.

"It's your Christmas gift. I figured I'd give it to you early," Adrien said with a smile.

Nino grinned, tearing open the box. "No way, dude! These headphones are killer!" He pulled them out, examining them carefully. Then he went back to the box and started digging through the CDs. Marinette forced herself to hide a small smile at his excitement.

"Whoa Adrien, that's a pretty sweet gift. You must've spent a ton of money on it," Alya said. The girl was looking at the table in front of them.

"Oh, it was nothing," Adrien said with a shrug. "I went shopping yesterday and knew you had to have the best pair."

"These are the best headphones available in the city!" Nino said in awe, quickly replacing the ones around his neck with his new pair. "And these CDs are going to be fantastic for my gigs!"

The corners of Marinette's face went up into a small smile at hearing that. She was glad that Nino approved of her and Adrien's music choices. Of course, she would have to watch what she said. None of them could know that she had a hand in choosing them. Especially Adrien. To help her pretend, she leaned forward and inspected the gifts, putting a look of awe on her face. The look wasn't hard, not with Adrien a few feet from her.

"You have a, uh, g-great taste in m-music," Marinette said.

Adrien smiled. "I had some help in picking it out, actually. Oh, I almost forgot! I've got gifts for you two as well." He looked up at Marinette and Alya, then started digging in his bag. Marinette's eyes widened, and she gave Alya a euphoric look. The girl rolled her eyes in response.

I'm getting a Christmas gift from Adrien! she thought elatedly. She felt her mouth fall open slightly, unable to do little more than prevent her squeals. Thankfully, Alya reached over and pushed her chin up for her with a chuckle. The movement helped her gain a little bit of her composure back, but Marinette still felt like every atom in her body was having a party.

"Alright class, everybody take your seats," Ms. Bustier announced.

Adrien looked up apologetically. "Sorry. I've got a photoshoot at lunch, but I'll give them to you after school." He sat down, putting his bag on the floor next to him.

Marinette felt her smile fade, her mind suddenly in conflict. One one hand, she was still getting a gift from Adrien Agreste. On the other, she had to wait hours until he actually gave it to her. Alya patted her shoulder consolingly, then they all started class. She did her best to focus, but her mind kept slipping back to Adrien and Ladybug's shopping excursion. They'd gone to four different stores, but she couldn't recall him buying anything for her or Alya. Nino, Chloe, even his father's assistant and his bodyguard, but nothing for them. He must have kept shopping afterward, she thought.

When lunch came, Marinette hurried home and ate quickly. She came back earlier than she normally would have to wait for Adrien. Alya and Nino ignored her as she sat next to them, watching the door to see if Adrien would return. Her sketchbook was on her lap, and her pencil in hand, but she ended up erasing everything she added. She was just too distracted.

Adrien ended up returning a few minutes after class started again, ruining Marinette's hopes that he would return in time to give them their gifts before.

The last half of the day went by slowly. Marinette took notes but was mostly unable to focus on the work. Finally, the bell signifying the end of class rang. Once they had been officially dismissed, everyone started talking animatedly and pulling out their scripts for the very first practice. Marinette followed suit, but thoughts of the play immediately left her mind when she set it down. Adrien had walked up the few steps to her desk, his hands behind his back as he looked at her and Alya.

"Sorry it took so long, but there just didn't seem like a good time earlier," he apologized.

"N-n-no probl-lem," Marinette said.

He pulled his right hand out from behind his back and handed a piece of paper to Alya. Startled, Marinette realized that it was the photo Adrien had asked Ladybug to sign. "I ran into Ladybug and thought you might like an autograph," he said.

Alya took the photo almost reverently, her eyes wide. "No way! Adrien, how did you get this!" Alya exclaimed, her eyes glued to the photo and Ladybug's autograph across it.

"Oh, uh, I just ran into her the other day while she was patrolling. I asked her to sign and she did," he said. He turned his focus on Marinette, causing the blood to rush to her cheeks as usual. "You like fashion right, Marinette?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but it immediately became obvious to her that anything she said would not be coherent. Instead, she chose to simply nod.

Adrien smiled. "Awesome. I don't know how much you like my father's line, but that's all I could get access to. If I tried for anyone else, my father would kill me." He removed his other hand from behind his back and handed Marinette an envelope.

Marinette took it in shaking hands and pulled out a single ticket from within. A ticket to a Gabriel fashion show in two months. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers, and a squeak actually escaped her lips. "Y-y-you- th-this-"

Alya looked over, her eyes widening as well. "Whoa. Adrien, your father is her favorite designer!"

Looking up at Adrien, Marinette had to force herself to keep breathing. "A ticket to Gabriel Agreste fashion show?" she said, her voice high pitched. She could hardly comprehend what was happening. Not only did she just get a gift from the love of her life, but the gift was a ticket to a sold-out fashion show for her favorite designer. She would almost swear she was dreaming.

"Well, I'm glad you like it. It can be a bit hard to find the location, so I can pick you up if you want," Adrien said.

Marinette hadn't thought it was possible for her to be more shocked, but here she was. Her eyes threatened to bulge out of her head, and her heart rate increased tenfold. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? She looked over at Alya to see, and the blogger seemed shocked as well. "Y-you'll pick me up? And take the fashion show to me? Ah! Wait, I mean take me to the fashion show!"

Adrien smiled at her. "Sure. I'm going to be in it, so you'd be a little bit early, but that way you don't have to worry about transportation. I might be able to take you backstage after if you want. Anyways, I'll see you in a bit for practice." He gave her a wave and went to his stuff - and a staring Nino.

"Stall!" Alya commanded him, immediately dragging Marinette into the hallway. Marinette was too stunned to do anything but clutch the ticket in her hand and stare at Alya.

"Girl, do you even realize what just happened?" she asked excitedly.

"D-did he just-"

"You totally have a date with Adrien!" Alya exclaimed.

"I-I have a date with Adrien," Marinette said breathily.

Alya put a hand to her chin, glancing in the window back at Adrien who seemed confused as he talked to Nino. "Assuming he knows he asked you, anyway."

"What?!" Marinette clamped a hand over her mouth. That had come out much shriller than intended. She made more of an effort to keep what she said next quieter. "How am I supposed to know what he meant? I can't exactly go ask him if he meant to ask me on a date!"

Alya patted her on the shoulder, thinking hard. "The ticket says it's not for a while, right? That means we have some time to figure out if he means this to be a date or not. For now, you need to focus on getting through rehearsal without passing out."

* * *

Shortly after a very confusing conversation with Nino about his gift to Marinette, Adrien and the other actors were ushered to the front of the room. Alya and Nino put them all into pairs to practice lines, then went to talk with all of the backstage people. He turned to Marinette, whose entire face was red.

"You alright?" he asked, worried about why her face was such a color.

"What? Uh, o-of course! J-just nervous," she said. At first, her stammering had been odd, but after a while, Adrien had gotten used to it. For a while, Adrien had almost thought she still hated him after the whole gum incident. She didn't seem to act that way in front of anyone else, and Adrien had come to realize that his being friends with Chloe didn't help his case. However, after so long in her class he now knew that she didn't hate him. He saw how she acted, and knew that she would not hide her feelings of disliking someone. Adrien just attributed her little quirk to him being a model.

"What scene do you want to practice?" he asked, looking down at the script he held. The quiet weekend had given him some time to look it over, but he was still a long way from having it memorized.

"Uh-uhm. H-how about the o-opening scene?" she suggested, looking at her own script.

Adrien nodded, turning to the first page. "Alright… 'Chat Noir saunters over to Ladybug.'" Saunters? Do I really do that? He took a few steps back, then walked back up to Marinette. All the while, he was far too aware of how he moved. He couldn't tell if it was how he would have as Chat or not.

"Hello, Milady," Adrien read, struggling to keep a mix of Chat and himself in his voice. If he slipped into his Chat Noir vibe too easily it would set off alarm signals.

"'Ladybug turns to face Chat Noir,'" Marinette whispered to herself. She looked up at Adrien briefly, turning as if she just noticed him. Then her gaze went back to the pages. "Nice of you to show up, Chat Noir."

Looking at the instructions, Adrien smiled as instructed, though he couldn't lean on his staff like it said. "You know me, I've got to look presentable," he said.

"Just don't take so long when there's an actual akuma," Marinette read. Her ears went slightly pink, and she pretended to flick the nonexistent bell around Adrien's throat.

Adrien couldn't hold back his chuckle. It should have been strange to have someone ring his bell other than Ladybug - even if the bell wasn't even there - but for some reason, it felt natural with Marinette. Lucky for him, there was actually a laugh in the script. "Of course. I would never abandon you in your time of need."

Marinette rolled her eyes almost robotically, clearly not used to acting. "L-let's get started on our patrol. W-we need to be ready. In case there's an akuma." She groaned, momentarily covering her face with her hands at her stutters and pauses.

Placing an arm on her shoulder, Adrien took it upon himself to comfort the girl. She looked up at him, her eyes frustrated. "Don't worry so much, Marinette. Just act like it's you saying the words. You are the character, you are the person saying these words. You are Ladybug here."

Terror flashed momentarily before her eyes. "O-okay. I'll try." Adrien moved his hand and she took several deep breaths. When she spoke again, her voice was much steadier.

"Let's get started on our patrol. We need to be ready in case there's an akuma." Her words were so strong, it stunned him. It was as if she actually was channeling Ladybug somehow. He could almost swear that if he closed his eyes and opened them again his partner would be standing before him.

"Paris awaits our presence," Adrien said. The words came half out of reflex, and half because of looking at the script. He internally cringed at hearing it. It came out much more like Chat Noir than he would have liked. When he was Adrien he was supposed to be more careful, but for some reason the situation had him disarming in the way his mask did. This play was going to be more difficult than he thought.

* * *

Several hours later, Adrien collapsed onto his bed. He had just finished practicing the piano his father required of him, then eaten his dinner alone as usual. The sun was still out, though it was beginning to set when he got an alert on his phone.

"No way, now?" Adrien forced himself to sit up and look at his phone. It seemed there was an akuma attack at the Louvre. He looked around for his kwami, finding him on a half-empty plate of camembert cheese.

"Plagg, claws out!" The kwami was dragged groaning into his ring, and Adrien transformed into Chat Noir. He opened the window and was gone. Nathalie and his father would not be worried that he was gone. Adrien rarely had a reason to leave his room after he ate. His room was the only place really built for entertainment.

It took only a few minutes for him to approach the Louvre, and what he saw definitely came as a surprise. The normally pristinely-clean glass pyramid was covered base to tip in vines, bushes, and trees.

Ladybug landed next to him almost immediately after he arrived. "Looks like we've got good thyming," he said.

"Not now, Chat, people are in danger. There's an elementary field trip in there right now," Ladybug said, her face serious as she looked at the museum. "It looks like she's barricaded herself inside with the kids. There has to be a way to get past these defenses."

Chat Noir held up his hand. "Cataclysm?"

She shook her head, leading the way up to the barrier of plant life. "We shouldn't use it so early in the fight, it might be useful later. Let's try just pulling it." The two of them approached the doors and started tugging at the vines in front of it. It very quickly became obvious that it would not be moving.

Chat held up his hand again, and Ladybug sighed. "Fine. Let's just hope this goes fast."

"Cataclysm!" Chat lifted his hand, feeling the raw power of destruction in his grip. The power manifested as black magic in his palm, spreading over the plants as he traced his fingers along them. They shriveled and broke within seconds of the contact. Chat opened the now-free door and held it for Ladybug.

They walked through the Louvre slowly. Flowers and vines covered most of the space, but there was a trail where it was thicker. Both followed this trail, carefully picking their way through the undergrowth.

"How do you know there's a field trip in here?" Chat asked, looking around a corner to look for the akuma.

"I know one of the kids as a civilian," Ladybug said simply. He wanted to press further but knew that his precious Ladybug would never say anything more if it would risk her identity. She was stubborn in that way. It was one of her most annoying and most attractive qualities.

Suddenly, the branches of a tree behind him shot out towards them. Chat hurried forward and pushed Ladybug to the ground, causing the branches to wrap around him instead. It got his right hand first, then his torso, tightening until he could barely wriggle in its grip.

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug exclaimed. She stood up and turned, looking for the akuma. It didn't take long.

A woman wearing a long, flowing dress made out of seamlessly put-together leaves appeared. Her arms were covered in wooden arm bracers. Her long dark hair had flowers woven into it, and a wooden circlet resting on her head. A golden locket hung from around her neck. The glowing outline of a butterfly vanished from in front of her face.

"Well if it isn't Ladybug and Chat Noir. Paris's 'superheroes' come to save the day," she said in a singsong voice. "I am Gaia, and I can protect them without you. Just give me your Miraculous and you can be done with fighting akumas every other day."

"You're barking up the wrong tree, Gaia," Chat Noir said, reaching his left hand down to try to free his waist from the tree. The ring on his finger beeped, signaling four minutes until his transformation fell. "Uh, little help, Ladybug?"

Her yo-yo wrapped around both of the branches and she tugged. They snapped, dropping Chat to the ground. He landed as lithely as possible, grinning. Together they ran at Gaia, who lifted her hand with a gentle smile. Chat felt his own smile fade as a tree popped up in front of him. He smacked into it, falling to the ground. He groaned, pain blossoming in his head.

"You okay, Chat?" Ladybug asked, helping him up.

"Floral intents and purposes," he grumbled, rubbing his head.

"Don't beet yourself up, Kitty Cat," she joked, looking back towards a very angry-looking Gaia.

Chat stood up, his body facing the akuma, but his face was looking at Ladybug. "Nice pun. It seems like we're mint to be." He winked at her.

Before Ladybug could respond, his full attention was drawn by a vine shooting at them. "Give me your Miraculous!" Gaia roared, her gentle tone becoming harsher. She glided towards them on vines, the plants around her shifting as she moved.

Another beep from his ring made Chat's heart speed up. Three minutes to deal with this akuma and get home. "Any ideas on where the akuma is?" he asked Ladybug as they dodged more attacks. The pain in his head made it hard for him to focus on what she wore.

"I'm guessing it's in her locket," Ladybug said. She moved next to him and looked at his ring. "Looks like we should've saved that Cataclysm after all."

He nodded, smacking an incoming vine to the side with his staff. "Just means we have to hurry." Chat charged, Ladybug right behind him. He swung his staff, but his and Ladybug's attack was blocked.

The pair jumped back to get some distance. "We've got to end this fast. Lucky Charm!" Chat watched as she threw her yo-yo into the air and a red high heel fell into her hand. She stared down at it in confusion for a moment, then quickly looked around the room.

Every time she had a plan and was preparing to execute it, her face became so determined. The set of her jaw and the look in her eyes reminded Chat Noir of how amazing she was. She started working, running to the corner of the room they were in, dodging several attacks Gaia sent after her. Chat ran with her, blocking things while they went. She was laser focused on their goal - what seemed to a small knife on display. She broke through the glass case and grabbed the knife. She used the end of her yo-yo to tie the knife onto the heel.

Chat Noir ducked and turned as she through it. He watched it soar, the knife allowing it to lodge itself into one of the vines directly in front of Gaia.

"You really think that you could stop me with a shoe?" she laughed. She continued forward, but her foot caught in the shoe. Gaia looked down angrily, then glared up at them. Before she could get another word out, however, Ladybug yanked on her yo-yo.

The shoe - and Gaia's foot - were jerked forward. She fell to the ground. Ladybug and Chat ran forward as there was yet another beep on his ring. He leaned down and pulled off her necklace before she could get up. Chat threw it onto the ground and smashed it with his heel.

Ladybug's yo-yo caught the purple butterfly that emerged. "Time to de-evilize!" she exclaimed. Then she released a pure white butterfly.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" Red and black magic flew around, clearing the museum of the plants, and removing the pain in Chat Noir's head. A mass of purple fell away from Gaia, revealing a woman who would not otherwise have stood out.

"Pound it!" Chat Noir and Ladybug bumped their fists.

"W-where am I?" she asked, looking up in fright. Both heroes knelt next to her. "The last thing I remember was finding out my kids were going to the Louvre without my permission."

"Don't worry, you and the kids are safe," Ladybug assured.

Chat Noir nodded in assent. "Why didn't you want your kids to go to the Louvre?" he asked.

She looked down, shame crossing her face. "I… I was worried about them. So many akuma attacks happen at the Louvre… But my husband signed their permission slips anyways, so they came."

"Don't worry, everything is okay. Both you and your kids are fine. Chat Noir and I will always protect you and everyone else in Paris from akumas," Ladybug said.

Chat's ring beeped again. One minute. "That's my cue. See you later, Bugaboo!" He ran off as fast as he could to get somewhere to hide. He barely made it to an alley outside the Louvre when his transformation fell.

Plagg flew out, groaning as he landed on Adrien's shoulder. "That was exhausting!" he exclaimed, lying across his shoulder as if he were dying.

"You're fine, Plagg. I'm just glad my head stopped hurting. An akuma has never done that before," Adrien said. "Hawk Moth must have put quite the punch in this one."


	7. Chapter Seven: Gift Exchange

**Chapter Seven: Gift Exchange**

Christmas at the Dupain-Cheng household was taken very seriously. Decorations were put up early in December, and there was always a new Christmas treat created every year. One year it was peppermint-flavored cookies, another it was Christmas-themed cupcakes, and this year it was Santa Claus macarons.

The apartment didn't have space for a normal tree, but almost every room had a smaller Christmas tree. The one in the living room was big enough to put a few gifts under but small enough that there was plenty of room to move around.

Two days before Christmas, Alya showed up at their house. Marinette barely had time to greet her when she plowed into the house, speaking rapidly.

"SoIfoundoutwhyAdriengaveyouyourpresentearly. Ninotextedand-" Marinette blinked in confusion as she spoke, unable to decipher many of the words.

"Can you… slow down a bit? All I got was Adrien, early, and Nino," she said.

Alya took a deep breath, showing Marinette texts between her and her boyfriend. "I found out why Adrien gave out gifts early. Nino said that he tried to go to his house to hang out and he was told that Adrien isn't allowed to leave the house, and unless it was about schoolwork he wasn't allowed to have friends over."

"What? He's not allowed to leave?" Marinette asked in shock, handing back the phone.

"Nino texted him, and apparently it's something about his father being gone. But that's not what's important here. What's important is that we've been given a chance to find out if he meant to ask you out on a date!" Alya said, speaking as if this was the most important part of what she'd just said.

"W-what? How can we find out from him being trapped in his house? There's no way for us to go talk to him!" As she said these words, Marinette felt a pit form in her stomach. She'd been planning to deliver her gift to him - another scarf she'd designed - on Christmas Eve. She had even planned to rope her friends into going with her so she wouldn't be alone. But if they weren't allowed to go see him, that plan was a bust.

Alya sighed. "Well, there's an obvious way around that. Nino said that the person who sent him away was very specific that unless it was for school, no one could come. We still have a while until we perform the play, but I know that both you and Adrien need some more practice time, right?"

"M-me? And Adrien? You want me to go to Adrien's house and practice? Just us two? In his house?" Marinette said, her voice getting higher at just the thought.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. I've convinced Nino to join us, so we'll be with you guys. But practice is not going to be the main part of our visit. Is your gift for Adrien wrapped already?"

Marinette looked up the ladder that led to her bedroom. "Yeah. I was planning to give it to him tomorrow, but I - wait. You want me to give it to him today? I'm not ready to give him a gift today! What am I going to say? What do you say when you give somebody a Christmas gift?"

"Let's get the gift and your script," Alya said. She followed Marinette up to her room where she put on a coat and grabbed the necessary materials. "When you give him the gift, you need to mention the fashion show somehow."

Marinette slipped on her coat, clutching the small gift in her arms. "Mention the fashion show. Got it. What else should I say?" she asked.

They went down the stairs, leaving the house with a quick goodbye to her parents.

"Just tell him that you got him a Christmas gift and that you hope he likes it. Something like you would say to me if you got me something," Alya said. She led the way to a corner where they met up with Nino. The DJ looked relieved that they had arrived. He wore a coat, but he still looked as if he had a cold from the color in his cheeks and nose.

"It's about time. I've been waiting forever," Nino said. They started walking as a group in the direction of the Agreste's house.

"Sorry, Nino. It took longer for me to get to Marinette's than I thought it would," Alya apologized. "On the bright side, her gift was already wrapped."

Marinette nodded. "How exactly do you want me to mention the fashion show? You know I'm bad at making things up on the spot."

Her friends shared a knowing look. "She's got a point, Alya," Nino said.

"Alright, uh, just say 'This isn't quite a ticket to a fashion show, but I hope you like the gift' or something. You have a tendency to over-complicate things. Go as simple as you can," Alya suggested. "All you have to do is say the words, I'll watch his reaction."

"Got it. This isn't quite a ticket to a fashion show, but I hope you like the gift," Marinette repeated. A few minutes later, they arrived at Adrien's house. It stood tall and imposing in the dim light caused by a cloudy sky.

They approached the gate and pressed the button to request to enter. A panel slid open, and a black camera came out. It scrutinized them for a second before a female voice said, "Adrien is not permitted to have any friends over right now unless it is for school."

"M-ma'am? We actually wanted to come practice for our class play. Adrien is one of the leads, so we wanted to have some extra practice with him," Alya explained. The three of them smiled innocently until the camera retracted. For a moment, it seemed like she wouldn't let them in, but then the large gates slowly opened to allow them inside.

The door to the actual house was opened by the large form of Adrien's bodyguard. A slim woman with dark hair stood at the base of the stairs. From the few times Marinette had been to Adrien's house, she recognized her as Gabriel Agreste's assistant, Nathalie. She looked nicer than Mr. Agreste, but it was clear she was just as stern and organized. Before any of them could greet her, the room to Adrien's door opened.

"Hey, Nathalie, who was at the-" Adrien froze, his eyes wide. His gaze flicked from his gathered friends to the woman standing before them. Marinette's cheeks heated up when he looked at her, even though she knew he wasn't focusing on her.

"Your classmates are here to work on your project, Adrien," Nathalie said. Marinette could have sworn that she was smiling, if only slightly.

"Project? What project?" Adrien asked, confused. He walked down the stairs to stand next to Nathalie.

"The play. We figured we could get some extra practice in," Nino said.

Adrien grinned. It was a beautiful, genuine smile. "Let's go to my room to work. Thank you, Nathalie."

The assistant nodded, then moved aside to allow the group to follow Adrien up the stairs and into his room. Despite having been there before, Marinette gawked. She was always here as Ladybug, when there was too much happening for her to take in the full majesty of it. The room was huge and filled with everything anybody could ask for. A television, arcade games, a foosball table, a literal climbing wall, and shelves filled with CDs and books.

Next to her, Alya was staring as well. "This is your room?" she asked in awe.

"Yep. The best room money can afford," Adrien said, a hint of bitterness in his voice. "What's the gift for, Marinette?"

She snapped back to reality and looked at him, suddenly twice as nervous. "Uh, it's you for! I mean, it's for you! I-It's not quite a ticket to a fashion show, but I hope you like it!" she squeaked. Marinette shoved the gift towards him, glad she was able to get the words out like Alya had told her. It might have sounded a bit rehearsed, but the point was that she'd gotten them out properly.

Adrien took the gift with a smile. "I'm glad you like the ticket. I had to go around my father to get one." He opened the present, and his smile widened. He pulled the scarf out of the small box. "This is amazing, Marinette! Did you make it yourself?"

"Y-yeah. It's one of my new d-designs," Marinette stammered out. She looked over at Alya, who shrugged, frowning. Apparently, his response told her nothing.

"Why don't we work on the scene after Ladybug and Chat Noir beat the akuma?" Nino suggested, pulling out a copy of the script.

Marinette took out her own script while Adrien set the scarf on his bed and went to take the script off of his desk. She saw light reflect off of something metal before he quickly covered it in the guise of moving things to get to the script. She squinted her eyes, trying to get a good view of it, but before she could he had turned around and returned to the group.

"Thanks for coming over, you guys. I didn't really expect to see anybody but Nathalie and my bodyguard until the break ended," Adrien said.

"When's your father coming back?" Alya asked.

Adrien shrugged. "His trips always take longer than expected. He says in a few days, but it probably won't be for at least a week."

"W-well, I'm sure he'll come back as soon as he can," Marinette said after a moment of silence. "We should play on the work. Er. Work on the play."

They pushed Adrien's couch closer to the TV and found their places in the script. Nino and Alya stood to the side to watch them. After a few moments of reading, Adrien started pacing in the room. A look of worry was plastered on his face very similar to something Chat Noir would actually look like.

"Did Storyteller really tell us where Hawk Moth's lair is?" he said.

Marinette nodded, beginning to walk with him. She tried to put a serious look on her face, but without the mask, she found it difficult. Her walk was uneven, and her words came out choppier than she would have liked. "I think he did. That means that we, uh, we have the upper hand for once."

"We've got to go after him. We can't let him make any more akumas if there is something we can do about it," Adrien said. Both of them stopped pacing and faced each other. Marinette felt the eyes of Alya, Nino, and Adrien on her. She was nervous enough being in Adrien's house and trying to be Ladybug without her mask, the thought of them all looking at her so intently made it five times worse.

"W-w-we need a p-plan. If we just walk in there, w-we might as well hand him our Miraculouses," Marinette said. She winced at the awkward way she said it.

Suddenly, Adrien's hands were on both of her shoulders. She looked up, her wide blue eyes meeting his kind green ones. This was not in the script.

"Don't worry, Marinette. Just take deep breaths and try not to focus too much," he said, not moving his hands. Her shoulders were warming up at his touch. Him being so close made it hard for her to register his words. It took her a few seconds more than she would have liked for her to pull herself out of the dreamy vortex of his mint green eyes.

"D-don't focus? H-how am I s-suppos-sed to n-not f-focus? W-won't I m-mess up?" she said, her stammer worse than ever since she could only look up at him.

Adrien gave her a comforting smile, making her that much more nervous. "I know it can be uncomfortable being the center of everyone's attention, so I find it best to try and pretend you're not there. Pretend that you're alone except for the other people you're acting with. Right now it's just you and me. You are Ladybug, and I am Chat Noir." If Adrien had been anybody else, she would have noticed how his voice went up an octave at the end.

Marinette took several deep breaths, closing her eyes so she wouldn't get distracted by looking at him. His hands were ever present on her shoulders, and since ignoring it proved impossible, she focused her attention on it. The warmth that bled through her shirt and onto her shoulders, the gentleness with which he held her, and the feeling of added pressure from his ring were the things that let her clear her mind. Once her heart had calmed down, she opened her eyes and looked up at him again.

"You good?" he asked her.

She nodded. "I think so. Thank you," Marinette said.

They stood there for a second longer than was necessary looking at each other, though it felt like a thousand years. Then, Adrien removed his hands from her shoulders and took a step backward. He glanced over at their friends, and his cheeks when slightly red. Marinette felt sure hers would have matched the shade of a tomato perfectly.

Alya's mouth held a wicked grin, and Nino looked stunned next to her. Marinette avoided her best friend's gaze, sure that she was going to die from embarrassment then and there.

"Why don't we start from the beginning of the scene, Marinette?" Adrien suggested.

"Good idea," she said. He once more started pacing, and she joined him. Her nerves threatened to take over once more, but she focused on the memory of Adrien standing so close and holding her arms. Everything seemed to melt away. It was just her and Adrien in the room. But it wasn't her and Adrien. It was Ladybug and Chat Noir.

No, you're Marinette. You are not Ladybug right now, she thought.

"Did Storyteller really tell us where Hawk Moth's lair is?" Adrien asked.

Ladyb- Marinette nodded, a look of serious contemplation firmly on her face. "I think he did. That means that we have the upper hand for once."

The rest of the practice involved careful thought for Marinette. Adrien had apparently given her the key to slipping into Ladybug, but the slope was too steep. She had to watch everything she said and did to make sure she didn't emulate her other self too much. It was made even more difficult by the fact that Alya and Nino kept stopping them to make corrections so they would be more like Ladybug and Chat Noir.

When they finally left Adrien's, Marinette found that she almost didn't want to leave. Not only was Adrien here, but as soon as they were out of the house she knew that Alya would bring up what had happened earlier. She was right.

"What was that moment between you two? You just stood there, staring at each other!" Alya said the moment the doors closed behind them.

Every ounce of calm that Marinette had achieved inside evaporated in an instant. She felt like she was floating on a cloud. "I-I don't know. Do you think he thought it was something? Maybe he just got lost in thought?" she fretted. Her cloud seemed to float a little bit closer to the earth at the thought.

"No, way," Nino said. "The dude does not look like that when he's lost in thought. Lost in your eyes, maybe."

Color rushed back into her cheeks. "M-my eyes? So, w-we really had a moment?" Marinette squeaked.

"If you didn't, I don't know what two people having a moment looks like," Alya said earnestly. She grinned at her. "The gift thing failed, but if that fashion show wasn't a date before, it sure seems like it might be now."

* * *

Marinette worked dutifully with her parents for most of Christmas Eve. It was one of the busiest days for the small bakery, and Marinette knew that her parents enjoyed having her help. She primarily worked in the front with the cash register, but when there were no customers she would help with cleaning or with the actual baking. At one point, she and her father were joking around with the ingredients and she ended up with a face covered in flour. The giggles that followed summoned the attention of her mother, who made the young blunette leave to clean off her face.

When Marinette had gotten all but a few small spots of it off, she left the bathroom to look outside at the snow. It wasn't currently falling, but every surface had a layer of snow on it. Paris was stunning on a normal day, but the glistening snow made it shine in a way that mesmerized her. It was such a beautiful thing to just look at and thin-

A shadow moved between buildings. At first, Marinette assumed that she was seeing things, but a minute later she saw a figure dressed in black land on the roof she was looking at.

"Uh, Tikki? Is that Chat Noir?" Marinette asked, her eyes widening.

The red kwami flew over to the window and peered outside. "It looks like him," she said.

Marinette shared a confused look with her friend. "What do you think he's doing outside on Christmas Eve? Shouldn't he be with his family?" Tikki shrugged in response. They watched him wandering around for a few more minutes before turning away.

Going back down to the bakery, Marinette poked her head in to talk to her parents. "Mom, Dad?" she called.

Her mother looked up from the dough she was working. "Hi, honey. Your father is taking an order, but you can get started on a batch of macarons if you want."

"Uh, I was actually hoping I could take a break? I wanted to talk to Alya about some stuff for the play," Marinette said. "Would that be okay? I don't want to leave you and Dad if you still need help."

"Don't worry about it. You go practice, your father and I will do fine without you." Her mother smiled at her. "Just make sure you're done for dinner tonight, okay?"

"Thank you! I'll be done in time, I swear." Marinette gave her mom a big smile then retreated up to her room. She looked through her window and located Chat Noir in the distance. He was a small shadow walking along a rooftop several blocks away.

"What are you planning, Marinette?" Tikki asked.

"I'm going to go talk to Chat Noir," Marinette said matter-of-factly. "I don't think there's an akuma, but something is clearly happening. I just want to make sure that he's okay."

She transformed and slipped out through her skylight. It was cold out, but with her suit, she would survive much longer than she would otherwise. The cold bit at her cheeks and her breath fogged in the air, but the wind didn't cut through her clothes like it should. Whereas Marinette she would have been shivering and frozen, she felt fine. This effect wouldn't last forever, of course, but the magic behind the suit would sustain her for a while.

Ladybug hurried to go through the streets to where Chat was jumping to another roof. She landed next to him, a smile on her lips.

"How long have you been wandering around?" she asked.

He jumped, turning to face her and hiding his hands behind his back. "Nice to see you, too, Bugaboo." The way he said her nickname was not in his normal carefree way, but more as if by reflex. Something was clearly on his mind.

"Is everything okay, Chat Noir? You don't seem like yourself," she said.

His eyes opened a fraction of a centimeter more, telling Ladybug that she was right, he just hadn't expected her to notice the change. With one hand he scratched the back of his neck, though his other stayed hidden behind his back.

"Everything's fine. I just got a little bored with the lack of akuma attacks and decided to do a solo patrol," Chat said nervously.

She looked at him critically for a moment, trying to judge if he was telling the truth. He seemed more fidgety than normal, and his eyes kept flicking away from her. Then there was the hand he kept behind his back, a secret he didn't want her to know. Ladybug walked in an arc around him, trying to see what he was hiding in his hand. However, he turned with her, keeping himself between her and whatever he had hidden.

"What are you hiding, Chat?" she demanded. She stopped moving and crossed her arms defiantly. Finally, he looked into her eyes. They were cat-like, but they were like an open book to her after so many life-or-death situations together. He was nervous about something. No. He was terrified about something. Her anger melted into worry in an instant.

"Chat? What's wrong? What happened?"

He looked away, taking a shaky breath. "I've loved my time as your partner, Milady," he began. Ladybug got flashbacks to her dream weeks earlier where he had said almost the exact same phrase. The blood in her veins suddenly became icy with fear.

"Are you okay? Is something happening?" she asked, taking a step towards him.

Chat Noir looked up, scrunching his brow. He had picked up on her worry. "I'm fine. Paris is fine. There's just… something important I need to tell you."

A weight lifted off of her. Whatever was bothering him, it wasn't as big as she had thought. For someone with a secret identity, she had learned to tell when he was lying. The casualness with which he dismissed her worries told Ladybug that everything was legitimately fine, despite the negativity normally associated with the phrase 'I'm fine'.

"So you were wandering around hoping I'd come out?" Ladybug asked.

He chuckled. "I guess so. Seems like I got the right section of Paris at last, doesn't it?" he said. It was lighthearted, but still more forced than normal.

She shook her head. "Not telling you, Kitty. You know the rules about protecting our identities. Now, what was it you needed to tell me?"

Chat took a deep breath as if he was preparing to do something big. "I- I…" He took his hand out from behind his back to reveal a small jewelry box. It looked like he was conflicted about what he was going to say. "I wanted to say Merry Christmas."

Something told Ladybug that he had wanted to say something else. Before she could question, however, the thought was driven from her mind. Opening the small box revealed a gorgeous silver necklace. The dim light reflected off of the polished surface of a silver ladybug pendant inlaid with four flawless red jewels.

Ladybug felt the air rush out of her lungs in a gasp. Her hand went to her mouth as she looked down at it in shock. Chat Noir watched her with worry, the box contained in his hands.

"Chat… It's beautiful," she breathed. His shoulders visibly relaxed at her words. "W-where did you get this? Why did you get this?"

He took the necklace out of the box, motioning with one hand for her to turn around. She obeyed, and he draped the necklace around her neck. As he did up the clasp, he leaned forward so his lips were a mere inch from her ear.

"Because you deserve only the best, Milady." His breath on her ear sent a chill from her neck down her spine. She felt her chest tighten, and her thoughts become flustered in a way they only ever did around Adrien. Chat Noir pulled away, and Ladybug turned to face him.

Ladybug's eyes were wide, and for once Chat seemed to be lacking a sarcastic response to the situation. The tension could almost be scooped out of the air with a spoon like a bowl of ice cream. She looked down at the pendant that rested comfortably on her chest. "Th-thank you Chat. I-I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. I'm just glad that you like it," he said, smiling. His eyes twinkled, a little bit of his usual cockiness returning. "I'll be off now. I've been out for a while, and I need a cat nap."

He gave her a long, meaningful look, then he was off.

She watched him for a moment before her mouth said words her brain had yet to approve. "I don't like it. I love it," Ladybug whispered. She looked down at her gift once more, so she missed the twitch of Chat's ears a few houses down.

* * *

Adrien collapsed onto his bed, covering his face with his hands. "Why didn't I say it? Why didn't I just say it?" he groaned.

"Because you're a scaredy cat," Plagg said. He floated over to sit next to Adrien, a piece of camembert in his small paws.

"Did you hear what she said when I left?" Adrien ignored his kwami's pun, unable to focus on anything but his own predicament. "She said she loved it. Why couldn't I say that to her? 'I love you, Ladybug.' It's so easy now that she's not here."

Plagg snorted. "More like 'I'm so ridiculously in love with you that I feel guilty for looking into another girl's eyes for a second.'"

The blonde glared, throwing a pillow at the small black figure. He dodged deftly and continued to eat his cheese. "Shut up. Nothing could even happen with Marinette. The most she's ever been able to speak to me was today with the play when she was pretending to be someone else."

"Strange, who mentioned Marinette? You make eye contact with half the girls in your class every day," Plagg said. He dodged another pillow thrown in his direction. "I'm just saying that maybe you didn't say it because someone else has caught your eye."

"There's no one else. I am in love with Ladybug, and that's it," Adrien said adamantly. "I was just helping Marinette calm down today is all. Ladybug is the love of my life."

Plagg shook his head. "Whatever you say, kid. I'm going to enjoy my Christmas Eve with an extra helping of camembert." He ate the remainder of his piece whole and went to the stash he kept in a cupboard for more.


	8. Chapter Eight: Silhouette

**I apologize for abandoning my usual point of view structure for this chapter. I really tried, but it just couldn't flow correctly if it started from Marinette's point of view. The chapter is still mainly Adrien, though, so I kept that! Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Eight: Silhouette**

For the rest of winter break, Adrien spent half of his time beating himself up over his encounter with Ladybug. There was a brief respite on Christmas day when his father did a brief video call with him while he opened the few presents he had had Nathalie buy. Adrien pretended that they were great, but they were just like every other gift he got. He'd always been able to tell the difference between gifts his mother had gotten and gifts his father made his assistant get. His mother's had always been very thoughtful and had been something he loved. The CDs and books he owned had often come from her. When Nathalie was forced to get something it was always something generic for any kid.

After his conversation with his father ended, Adrien retired to his room with his gifts. Most kids his age would kill for some of the things he had gotten, but to him, they were just more of the same. The most recent gaming console was just one to add to the collection. The newest outfit from his father's line was just something else he wasn't allowed to wear until it was released. His mind, however, was not on these gifts he'd received. It was on the one he had given the day before.

"Why did I say that, Plagg?" Adrien asked, unable to keep it to himself any longer.

Plagg looked up from the wheel of cheese Adrien had ordered him as a Christmas gift. "Say what?" he asked grumpily, taken out of whatever cheese fantasy his mind had concocted.

"Why did I get so close to Ladybug and say that? I couldn't say 'I love you' but I can do that? What must she think of me now? What does she think about the whole encounter? I mean, what kind of person says that? I was one step from kissing her!" Adrien paced around the room, unable to sit still lest he succumb fully to his embarrassment.

"Didn't she say something like 'I love you' after anyways? Maybe you should have kissed her," Plagg said.

Adrien finally sat down, spinning his desk chair around before stopping to look at his kwami. "She said she loved the necklace, not me. And why wouldn't she? The necklace is top-of-the-line, and I'm not."

Plagg sighed. "I'm sure your friends would argue differently. You're a model, son of Paris's best-known fashion designer, and get all A's in school. You even moonlight has a superhero."

"But Ladybug doesn't know all of that. She just knows the superhero who needs her to cleanse the akumas. She doesn't know Adrien, trapped in his house by his overprotective father." Adrien looked at the window, debating on leaving again. Then the thought of running into Ladybug entered his head, and he immediately negated the idea. I can't face her again after that. I made a complete fool of myself.

"Why don't you use your new Christmas gifts? I know cheese always distracts me when I'm distressed," Plagg said.

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Of course it does. You have one strange palate, Plagg."

"Tikki, what do I do?!" Marinette asked, staring at the necklace on the desk in front of her. Christmas morning had gone by too quickly for the young designer. She loved every gift she got and loved the breakfast her mother had prepared, but all too soon she was upstairs again. She had tried and failed to distract herself by working on the new sketchbook Alya had given her. The necklace, however, had other ideas. It didn't take long for her to find herself staring at it anxiously.

"Do about what, Marinette?" Tikki asked, getting up from the pile of sweets Marinette had given her kwami.

Marinette gestured wildly to the necklace. "About this! About Chat Noir! About Adrien!" she said helplessly.

"I think it was a nice thing Chat Noir did," Tikki said. "He obviously cares about you a lot."

"That's the problem, Tikki! I always knew we were friends, but I thought his flirting was meaningless! I assumed that's just how he always was. But yesterday…" Marinette thought of the moment Chat put the necklace on her. How close he had been to her. The way he'd spoken into her ear. "What if there's more to his feelings than I thought?"

"Why don't you ask him?" Tikki suggested. "That would be the easiest way to find out."

She nodded slowly. "That's a smart idea. I just need to talk to him is all. Make sure he knows that I don't feel the same way. That fixes Chat Noir, but what about Adrien? Do I actually have a date with Adrien?" Her voice got higher and higher the further she got in the last question.

"Alya seems to think so," Tikki said.

"But what if she's wrong?" Marinette said. She went limp in her chair, head on her desk. This brought her attention back to the necklace. A loud groan escaped her, and Tikki came over to pat her on the arm.

"When did things become so complicated?" she asked.

The rest of the break Adrien forced himself to stay inside. He desperately wanted to go out and see the world as Chat Noir instead of from his window as Adrien, but he couldn't risk it. Several times he saw Ladybug swinging about in Paris. After a couple times, he realized that she was looking for Chat Noir. That idea scared him, so he even skipped a scheduled patrol. He wasn't ready to face the rejection he could feel coming.

When class finally started again, he knew that he couldn't avoid it much longer. There had been no akuma attack since Gaia, and there had never been such a long break.

Adrien left the dining room that morning to find his father walking in the door. "Father, you're back!" he exclaimed.

His father looked down at him, giving him a rare small smile. "Yes. I know that I didn't tell you, but the availability of the flight was unexpected. I trust that you enjoyed your break from school, and did all of your studies?"

"I did, Father," Adrien said. "I'm glad you're home."

Gabriel nodded in assent, then they went on their ways. Seeing his father and the idea of returning to school kept Adrien distracted on the drive. He looked out the window, imagining seeing his friends again.

The car pulled up and the first thing he noticed was a lack of Marinette and Alya. Usually, they were talking at the foot of the stairs with Nino. He shrugged the thought away, briefly wondering why it bothered him before he stepped out of the car and walked up to his best friend.

"How was your break?" Adrien asked him.

"It was great. My parents got me some wicked stuff. What about you? Did you get to see your dad on Christmas?" Nino asked. They started walking up the steps to the school building but stopped when they saw Max and Kim approaching with a large box held by Max and a display board held by Kim.

They stopped next to them, smiling. "I take it that the two of you are not participating in the science fair?" Max asked.

"Good thing, too," Kim said. "Max is sure to win with his project. No one else even stands a chance."

"I bet," Nino said. "Everyone else is gonna have a hard time against you. You're the smartest kid in, like, the entire school."

Max smiled and pushed his glasses further up his nose. "Thank you for the compliments. I do have confidence that my project will be the winner. I must go set up, but I appreciate your support." Kim followed Max into the school building.

"That's going to be interesting. I hope he wins," Adrien said. Nino nodded, and they resumed their walk up the stairs. While heading to the classroom, Adrien noticed a lot of other students entering with boxes and display boards. It seemed that a lot of people were entering the competition, though he couldn't see anybody from their class. When they got to the class, he saw that he was right. Everyone but Max and Kim was there, very obviously lacking an experiment.

"Did no one else want to enter?" Adrien asked Nino as they took their seats.

"Everyone knows Max is entering. There's really no point if you can't win," Chloe said, turning to look at Adrien from the aisle between them. "Even these losers know that there's no point if you can't win."

"The science fair is about more than just winning, Chloe," Marinette said from behind him. "It's about learning something new."

Chloe turned an overly confident eye on Marinette. "If that's true, why did no one in our class enter? Why didn't you?"

"Because I didn't want to," Marinette said. She had the usual glare on her face that she normally had when talking to Chloe.

Alya stood up to defend her friend, also glaring at the blonde girl. "Most of our class isn't interested in that stuff, in case you didn't notice. That doesn't mean that they couldn't enter if they didn't want to."

All three girls were starting to look angrier. Thankfully, Ms. Bustier walked in before anything could escalate any further. Adrien sighed inwardly. He gave Marinette and Alya an apologetic look for Chloe, then grabbed his tablet as the bell rang.

During lunch, Adrien had to leave for a photo shoot, but when he returned he was glad to see that the peace - if it could be called that - had been kept between Chloe and Marinette. They all returned to class relatively happy, though the two refused to look at one another.

A few minutes before the final bell rang, a video was broadcast throughout the school to announce the winner of the science fair. Ms. Bustier put the video up, and Mr. Damocles's office appeared.

"Hello, students of Collège Françoise Dupont! As you are aware, the school science fair has been happening all day in the gym. After a lot of deliberation, our judges have chosen our winners! Walking away with the first place prize we have Max Kanté!" Mr. Damocles motioned to the side where Max stood with a first place pin on his shirt, holding a large trophy. The entire class erupted in applause, the loudest of which came from Max's best friend.

"Second place is Chance Moreau!" The camera moved to show another boy with a second place pin, holding a much smaller trophy. He was clapping but was obviously trying to fight a scowl.

Adrien clapped with the rest of his class but fought the urge to run outside. After fighting so many akumas, he could tell when someone was going to be a target. The look of anger on Chance Moreau's face told him that he would be the next akuma. Mr. Damocles went on to announce the third winner, but Adrien's mind was elsewhere. He was thinking of an excuse to give his bodyguard as to why he would be staying at school for a time.

The bell finally rang, and Adrien quickly grabbed his phone. He sent his bodyguard a text saying there was going to be a last minute practice for the play, then slipped away from Nino to go to the bathroom. Once it was completely clear, he transformed.

Chat Noir poked his head out of the room to make sure the coast was clear. Upon seeing it was, he left and began looking around the school. Chance was going to be here somewhere. Hopefully, he would catch him before he could do too much damage. He wandered the halls, moving as stealthily as he could. It wasn't for several moments that his enhanced ears picked up the sound of running.

He immediately ran towards it, going full force around a corner. Unfortunately, someone else was doing the same. They collided head-on, both collapsing back onto the floor. Chat groaned, rubbing his head and looking up to see who he'd crashed into. An apology was ready on his lips, but the words got stuck in his throat when he saw who it was. Ladybug was sitting up in front of him, rubbing her own forehead.

She noticed him too, but her reaction was not quite like his. "Chat Noir! Listen, we've got to talk about the other night…"

"So you know about the akuma, too?" Chat interrupted. He couldn't help but notice that she wasn't wearing the necklace he had gotten. He knew what was coming, but just the thought sent daggers through his heart. Focusing on Chance would be the best thing for him right now.

Ladybug opened her mouth to speak - probably to continue with her line of questioning. However, she paused before saying something else. "I managed to see that video. Chance looked far too upset about not getting first place. He has to be around here somewhere. Hawk Moth has been silent too long, he has to take an opportunity like this."

Chat nodded in reply, starting the walk down the hall. "Where do you think he would be? Maybe Hawk Moth let him get home before the akuma got him?"

Someone screamed.

"Spoke too soon, Kitty," she said. The nickname made him wince. She'd noticed that he hadn't greeted her like normal. But the cutesy name hurt coming from her lips right now. He knew that she was going to reject him, so why would she do that?

"Let's go, Milady," he said, careful to use the nickname. Both heroes ran to the source of the sound - the gym where the science fair had been held.

The room was large with wooden floors and bleachers pushed to the side. Several science fair displays were still scattered about the room. Most of their owners, however, were running away. In the center of the room stood what looked to be the solidified shadow of a person.

"It looks like the somebody's silhouette escaped," Chat Noir commented. As usual, Ladybug rolled her eyes but said nothing. Somehow, the normalcy of the act helped cheer him up.

"I require your Miraculouses," a whispery voice hissed. The sound seemed to echo around the room. Silhouette pointed a hand at them, and suddenly the shadows around them started moving. They crept over to their feet, starting to become solid like Silhouette.

Chat's eyes widened, and he started backing away with Ladybug. "I have a feeling that we don't want that to touch us," he said.

"Probably not. Let's get everybody out of here." They turned to hurry towards the doors to help people out. Ladybug held the door open, and Chat went towards the nearest people to guide them outside.

Only a few people had made it outside when shadows coated the doorway, stretching to block the exit completely.

"No one leaves until I get your Miraculouses," the creepy voice said. With his augmented hearing it was almost like the sound was reverberating inside his skull.

Chat turned to see Silhouette walking towards them. One person was just unlucky enough that he passed next to them. His fingers reached out and brushed their shoulders, spreading darkness onto them. It took only a second for them to look just like him. They started to follow him, completely at the mercy of the akuma.

"We need to figure out where the akuma is," Ladybug said. "Think about the video, what stood out to you?"

"The trophy? Or his second place pin?" Chat suggested. "I can't see anything on him like this. He's completely in shadow, but maybe that's because he felt like he was being overshadowed when he didn't win."

They backed away, motioning for the remaining civilians to do the same. A few more people were touched by Silhouette before they could get away. Each one became encased in shadow and joined him. Ladybug threw her yo-yo, pulling tables and experiments to sit between them and those who remained untouched.

"Might be a good time for a lucky charm," Chat suggested. "Otherwise we all might become shadows of ourselves."

Even as he spoke, shadows from objects around them were moving towards them. He tried poking one tendril with his staff, but it did nothing. In fact, he barely pulled it away before it could become solid around it. As he went back towards the huddled group Ladybug tossed her yo-yo into the air.

"Lucky Charm!" she called. A red and black spotted object fell into her hands. Chat looked over and raised an eyebrow in confusion and worry.

"Sunglasses? Darkness is kinda our problem right now if you didn't notice," he said, motioning to the shadows all around them.

He watched as she looked all around the room, scrutinizing everything she could see. The intensity of that look was one of the reasons he loved her. Finally, she looked at him with a brief smile. "Got it." She took a couple steps towards him and whispered her plan as quietly as she could.

"I'm going to turn off the lights. He might be able to see, but so can you. Use your stick to get over there. If you can get the glasses on him they might blind him combined with the lights being out. Then you can get the pin." She placed the glasses into his hands and readied her yo-yo.

Chat nodded, holding his staff at the ready. He'd have to move quickly once she knocked out the lights. If only he and Silhouette could see, then the others were at greater risk.

Ladybug tossed her yo-yo in quick succession, causing the lights to explode into sparks around them. After a few throws, the lights were gone. He extended his staff, propelling himself upwards and into the air. The angle took him up and forward. However, in such a small space he had less control than what he usually had outside when moving between rooftops.

His night vision lit the world in green. The shadows were difficult to discern, but they were still darker than everything else. It had to be something about the akuma that made them visible. Being able to see let him guide himself in the direction of Silhouette, but he had trouble landing where he wanted to. There was a portion of the floor around the akuma that wasn't covered in shadow, but Chat missed it. His right foot hit the bare patch, but his left landed in the middle of a shadow right next to Silhouette. Coldness instantly spread over his foot and started up his leg.

Don't let me waste this lucky charm, Chat silently begged, glancing at his trapped leg. Silhouette turned to face him, and Chat acted instantly. He reached forward and placed the spotted sunglasses on the akuma's face, breathing a sigh of relief when he felt them slide over his ears instead of jabbing into eyes.

Looking around, Chat saw the shadows freeze. The cold on his leg stopped moving upward, but somehow the feeling of cold deepened. From his knee down, all heat was seeped out of it to leave only a frozen shell. It was a good thing he couldn't move it anyway.

"What are you doing?" the hissing voice said, echoing throughout Chat's body. Being so close made the effect worse. The shadowed hand slowly moved upwards to remove the glasses.

"I think it'll be better if you're kept in the dark about this one," Chat said. He reached forward and felt for the medal that blended into Silhouette. His fingers brushed against it and cold seeped into his fingertips. Grabbing it, and ignoring the chill, Chat yanked. The item fell away from Silhouette and onto the floor.

Chat Noir extended his staff once more, letting it smash into the black shape next to his feet. A purple-black butterfly squirmed out of the object.

"Now Ladybug!" Chat grabbed the glasses off of Silhouette, who had fallen to his knees. He tossed them over to his partner, who somehow caught them. Ladybugs really were lucky.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" She threw them into the air, and magic instantly swept around the gym. The lights were restored, those who had been affected returned to their normal selves, the shadows in the room were once more just shadows, and Chat's leg was released.

He rubbed his surprisingly still-cold leg while she prepared to catch the akuma. She captured the small creature before it could fly away. She did her thing, then set it free saying, "bye bye, little butterfly."

She watched it fly off, and Chat found himself staring for a moment. Then he shook himself out of it. He walked over to her and held out his fist. Ladybug raised her own and they said a chorus of their victory cry:

"Pound it!"

Next to them, Chance transformed back from being Silhouette. He looked up in shock and confusion, obviously noting the two heroes as well as the mess of science projects scattered about the gym. "What happened?"

"You were akumatized for not getting first place in the science fair," Ladybug said, crouching next to him. "You just need to remember that second place is still an achievement."

Chat winced. Second place. That's what I am to her, isn't it? Her real life will always win.

Ladybug stood and turned to him, trying to catch his eye. Chat wouldn't match her gaze. He couldn't. If he did, he wasn't sure he could handle what he would see there. It was clear that she didn't feel the same way he did, but right now he didn't want to hear that.

"I love the necklace, Chat Noir," she said just quiet enough that only his hearing could pick it up. "I didn't transform with it. We need to talk. I need to know what everything meant. I need to know if-"

Her earrings beeped.

Chat looked at her ears to see the third dot vanishing. "Looks like you're about to transform. You should probably go before everyone sees my gift." He winked at her, a reflex from the small amount of weight that lifted from his shoulders. So she didn't know what he'd meant. Maybe he still had a chance with her after all.

Ladybug looked torn. She clearly wanted answers, but her innate desire to keep their identities hidden won out. "I'll see you later, Chat Noir. Bug out!" She ran out of the gym.

He watched her go, following a few moments later before anyone in the gym started asking him too many questions. There was a closet down the hall where he could transform back - except it seemed it was locked. "Of all times to be locked!" Chat hurried further down the hall, very aware of the cold that still claimed his foot. Shouldn't that have been gone by now?

Finally, he found an empty classroom where he could transform back. "Claws in."

Marinette's eyes widened and her hands rushed to hold the door handle as still as possible. She heard Chat Noir speak outside, but she held tight. He left after a few seconds, and she breathed a sigh of relief. How had he known where this closet was? It was relatively hidden at the end of this hallway, making it the perfect place for her to let her transformation fall.

"Maybe you should wait a few minutes to make sure it's clear," Tikki suggested. Marinette nodded, leaning her back against the wall to wait. Her hand went up to her neck. The necklace Chat Noir had given her hung there, hidden under her shirt so no one would see it and get any ideas.

"Why do you think he didn't want to talk about the other day?" Marinette asked, looking at her purse where her tired kwami resided.

Tikki shrugged. "Well, if he does like you, you weren't exactly acting like you were going to proclaim your own love for him. Maybe he was just worried that you'd reject him?"

The blunette's eyes widened. "S-so you do think he has a crush on me? What do I tell him? I'm in love with Adrien, not him!"

Her friend took far too long to respond. It was likely only a few seconds, but in her worry, it felt like forever. "If he does like you, then you have to tell him. It's not fair for you to keep him believing there's hope if there isn't any. He's your partner and your friend."

Marinette sighed. "You're right, Tikki. I should tell him the truth. I don't want to lie to him, he doesn't deserve to be treated that way. But first, I need to know if he actually does like me. Making a fool of myself is something I do often enough, I don't need to add doing it as Ladybug to the list."

Tikki giggled. "Just be careful not to play with his feelings," she warned.

"I won't, Tikki. I'll be careful."


	9. Chapter Nine: Princess and the Chat

**Thank you so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites. I can't believe how well-liked this is! You guys are amazing, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter Nine: Princess and the Chat**

Three days later had Marinette sitting in the park, busily drawing in her new sketchbook when a black form dropped next to her on the bench. "Aahh!" she shouted, throwing her stuff in the air in fright. She barely managed to catch them before they fell to the ground.

"Sorry if I scared you, Princess," Chat Noir said, a flirty grin crossing his face.

Once she was able to regain her composure, Marinette glared at him. "I don't like being snuck up on, Chat Noir."

He gave her a wink, relaxing on the bench. He had one arm across the back, the end of his fingers behind Marinette's back. "I'll remember that for the future, Princess."

She crossed her arms, shifting her position to get a better view of him. "What's with the 'Princess' thing?"

"I thought that last time we'd decided I was your fairytale prince. That would make you my princess, would it not?" he said, leaning forward.

Marinette scoffed, but a bit of color flushed her cheeks. "Didn't we also establish that you're a superhero, and I'm not a damsel in distress? No princes or princesses here, Chat Noir." She leaned back slightly so that the distance between them wasn't so small.

He straightened his back, that annoying smile still on his face. "You're blushing. Does that mean that you actually like being called Princess? I'm sure I could take a day off from fighting crime to save the lost princess of Paris."

Chat really is just a huge flirt, isn't he? Maybe that means the necklace was nothing! she thought. Out loud, however, she said, "Why would I like being called Princess by you? It's just a silly nickname you made up to put me off balance, right, Pussycat?"

She hadn't thought it possible, but his grin got even bigger. Normally she would have groaned, but seeing that smile made her want to smile too - an urge she resisted, of course. When they'd fought Silhouette, he hadn't talked like this to her. It was nice to see that he was getting over what had made him refuse to talk.

"It seems that you're the one trying to put me off balance, Princess. What were you drawing before I arrived?" he asked, looking down at her sketchbook curiously.

Marinette quickly hugged the book to her chest, her instinct to tease him gone. "I-I, uh, it's nothing. Just sketching some designs is all. You probably wouldn't care about them. You're probably more interested in jumping around Paris than in fashion."

In spite of everything she would have thought, his interest actually seemed piqued by everything she said.

"I doubt I'm as interested as you, but I know more about fashion than you'd think. Exploring the city is nice, but I've got other interests too, you know," he said jokingly. Chat slid over on the bench so he was only a couple inches from Marinette. He held out his black-clad hand, his smile going from shameless to gentle. "So, can I see it?"

She looked at his hand for a second, before she slowly set the book in it. Marinette held her breath, worried about what he would think. Alya was the only one she ever showed her designs, and if Chat Noir actually knew something about fashion then this could be one of the worst moments of her life. The things she designed had always been good to her, and she'd won the contest Gabriel Agreste did but did that mean she was actually good?

Chat opened the sketchbook and his eyes widened in awe. He flipped through the few pages that had anything on them. "These are amazing, Marinette. You've got a real eye for this type of thing," he said.

An invisible, yet crushing, weight lifted from Marinette's slim shoulders. Her face lit up at the praise as he handed the small book back. "Really?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "I'm not really a fashion genius, I tend to wea- I mean, uh, I've just got a limited knowledge. But these look amazing! Where do you get the inspiration to make things like this?"

Marinette smiled, looking out at the park around them. It was empty except for them, so the primary sound they could hear was the fountain and cars on the street. She motioned to all of it. "My inspiration can come from anything. The animals, the people, even the sound of the fountain or the wind blowing through the leaves. But it's normally not interrupted by someone falling from the sky."

Chat laughed lightly. "Technically, I didn't fall. I landed. I think I'm getting better, too, though I'd have to talk to Ladybug."

At the mention of her superhero name, she got an idea. Maybe she could find out how Chat felt as Marinette instead of as Ladybug. It wouldn't be that weird to have her asking those types of questions. Ladybug and Chat got asked all the time if they were in a relationship. She would just be another fan asking the same old question.

"So… How are you and Ladybug doing?" she asked. "You guys seemed a bit weird with the akuma the other day."

He looked down at her, surprised. "Were you there? I don't remember seeing you."

"Oh, uh, I-I heard about it! I had a friend that was there, and he told me all about what happened. Ladybug and Chat Noir at our school, it's kind of big news, you know? So, uh, is there anything wrong? Are the two of you fighting or something?" Marinette struggled to cover her mistake. She hoped he wouldn't notice, but the slip seemed glaringly obvious to her.

Chat nodded. Her explanation worked perfectly for him as if it was nothing more than what really happened.

"Don't worry, everything is fine between Ladybug and I. We-" Chat Noir was interrupted by the flashing of cameras. They both looked around until they saw the small group of people taking pictures of them.

"I guess that's our cue to leave, huh?" Marinette said. The words came out so naturally, she cringed once they were out. Nonono I'm not Ladybug right now!

He gave her a look of confusion. "What do you mean by 'our', Princess? They're only after me."

"W-well, uh, you don't intend to leave me, do you? I was just innocently trying to create some designs, I didn't sign up for a bunch of questions because you decided you wanted to talk to me." Marinette folded her arms to help keep her serious. She gave him her best 'you're taking me with you now' look, praying that it would work. It did.

"Alright, whatever you say, my humble Princess." He stood up and offered his hand with a flourish. Marinette ignored it and stood, wrapping her arms around him. Chat chuckled, then took out his staff. He held it up and extended it to shoot them into the sky towards the nearest roof.

She looked below them as they flew, her breath taken away. No matter how many times she did this same thing, the view always got to her. It was one of the best and most beautiful things she'd ever seen. It was so much better as a civilian when she wasn't so focused on where they were going to stop.

They landed, and he kept going to put some distance between them. When he took off again, Marinette tightened her grip on him. A small part of her mind couldn't help but think that he smelled nice. Almost familiar.

Then, they stopped, and she had to let go of him. She looked around, getting her bearings. It was a building near the school, but Marinette couldn't see it from here. Chat Noir looked at her, obviously expecting some reaction.

"That was amazing," Marinette said. "You and Ladybug see that all the time?"

He nodded, leaning against his staff. "Every time we go on patrol or fight an akuma. Want to do it again?"

She was nodding before she could stop herself. There were things she had to do, but she'd never wandered the streets just to look around before.

Chat placed his arm around her waist, holding her securely to him and jumping. Marinette held on tightly. Around them, the world became fuzzy as they moved around Paris. The wind blew through her hair, whipping her jacket and pigtails about. Her purse soared behind them. She briefly thought about Tikki inside, but her thoughts quickly changed as they stopped once again. Chat's arm disappeared from around her. Marinette felt cold where he had been pressed against her, the extra warmth now gone. She looked around, immediately recognizing their new surroundings. They were on top of the school building.

Chat Noir walked to the edge and crouched, looking out at the spread of buildings. "Other than the Eiffel Tower, this is one of my favorite views of the city," he said, his voice soft.

Marinette walked over, careful to stay further from the edge than normal - if she fell as a civilian, she couldn't swing her yo-yo to catch herself. She looked out at the view, suddenly wondering how Chat saw it. She knew that he had night vision, as well as enhanced hearing. Maybe his sight was better too. If that was the case, what must this wonderful sight look like to him?

* * *

"It's beautiful," Marinette said from behind him.

Chat stood up, taking a step back to stand next to her, though he kept his eyes towards the horizon. His heightened senses made everything as Chat Noir clearer. Whereas Adrien he couldn't see very far when transformed he could make out even the small houses in the distance with strong clarity. "I'll be honest, no matter how much you're up here, you never get used to seeing the city from this angle. What do you think?"

Marinette smiled at him, then looked back out at the buildings. "I think it's great. I can see why you'd never get used to it. It's stunning," she said.

"Glad you like it. Maybe I'll have to take you to see it more." He gave her another wink, then turned around to examine the landscape around them.

Did I just say that? Did I just offer to take her out more? Did- did I just ask Marinette on a date?! I didn't mean to do that. Asking out one of my best friends was not what I planned to do today. He looked down at his staff, checking the time. I've got to get home before Nathalie checks in on me. Good thing too, I need to take her home before I do anything else.

He pointed a clawed hand in the direction of the bakery, which he saw in the distance. "That's your house, isn't it?"

She squinted in the direction he pointed and nodded. "That's it."

"Let's get you home before you miss anything important, shall we?" He held his hand out to her. Instead of ignoring it, she took it this time. Chat gently placed her arms around him, then grabbed ahold of her himself. In seconds they were moving towards the bakery.

Luckily, the street in front of the bakery wasn't that crowded. He stopped briefly on her balcony, then jumped to the street. As he did, he switched to carrying her bridal style so she wouldn't hit the sidewalk. His suit absorbed the shock, but she had nothing to protect her. Once they were on the ground, he set her down.

"Thanks for entertaining me, Princess. I'll see you around." Chat waved quickly, then left. He went vaguely in the direction of his house, not wanting to go straight there and tell all of Paris where he lived. It took several minutes longer for him to get there than usual, but he had found it to be worth it in the past.

Chat Noir was about to swing back into his room when his staff started beeping. He stopped on the walls surrounding the house, bringing up the small screen.

"An akuma attack? Now? Father's gonna kill me!"

* * *

Marinette greeted her parents with hugs when she entered the bakery. However, they were busy at work, so she went up to the house and into her room. Tikki flew out of the purse immediately.

"Did you have fun with Chat Noir?" Tikki asked, giving her a look filled with much more meaning than the girl wanted there to be.

"He dragged me around doing things I could do any time I wanted, Tikki. Sure it was fun, but no more fun than if it had been just me. I just haven't seen Paris for a while when I wasn't on patrol or fighting an akuma. Or having weird interactions with Chat Noir. Well, I guess this was a weird interaction with Chat, too," Marinette said.

Tikki's look didn't go away, much to her chagrin. "But you didn't object to his nickname for you. And you didn't care about being so close to him…"

Marinette glared at the red kwami. "What are you trying to say, Tikki? That I like Chat Noir? Because I most certainly do not! I'm in love with Adrien, I couldn't be-" Her phone rang insistently in her pocket. She gave Tikki once last glare before answering the video call. Alya appeared on the screen, her face taking up the entire thing.

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng! What on Earth have you been doing today, and why didn't you tell me?!" she said. Her voice came through the phone slightly tinny, but mostly unaffected. "I've seen a bunch of pictures online of you jumping around Paris with Chat Noir! And I have a video of him dropping you off at home!"

"W-what? How many pictures are there?" her cheeks started going pink, and she thought about the way he had dropped her off at home. The way he'd carried her was not in a traditionally platonic way.

Alya watched her critically. The look on her face told her that she was not going to give up until she got the answers she was looking for. "O-okay. H-he showed up when I was at the park. We started talking a little bit, and then some people showed up. Chat Noir saved me from the pictures and the questions. Everything else was just kinda… an accident."

"An accident?" she asked blandly. "You hugging him while he showed you the sights and then took you home was an accident? Girl, I'm not going to believe that for a second. What happened to Adrien?"

Marinette's eyes widened. "What happened with Chat Noir has nothing to do with Adrien! Adrien is so much better than Chat Noir!" she said, desperately trying to convince both Alya and Tikki that she didn't care about Chat Noir in that way.

"In the video, he called you 'Princess', Marinette. That's not what you call someone you just met!"

The blunette scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "Well… I've kind of met him before," she said, remembering the time when he had shown up on her balcony.

"WHAT?! You've been holding out on me! I need details!" her best friend demanded.

"Well, uh, It's a little complicated. I mean he just kind of showed up on my balcony and we started talking… Okay, maybe not so complicated," Marinette said guiltily. "I didn't tell you because it was nothing. Chat Noir is always going around the city doing weird things, right?"

Alya was about to respond when there was a beep that came from both ends of the call. Marinette's eyes widened to see that it was an akuma alert.

"I've gotta go!" Alya said, staring at her phone. "Where there's an akuma there's something for the Ladyblog. Don't think that you've gotten out of this!"

They ended the call. Marinette quickly turned on the news to get information for the akuma alert. Tikki joined her, both of them looking intently at the screen.

 _"Nadja Chamack here with live news about the newest villain to rampage in the streets of Paris! It seems that the center of the carnage is La Santé Prison. There appear to be several fires set inside the building, and only a few people have come out! Each one reports that the perpetrator is an akuma calling herself Nemesis."_

 _Behind Nadja was the prison, where there were plumes of smoke emanating from different points. Police surrounded the scene, and what looked to be several prison guards were being questioned. The purple-haired news reporter hurried over to the closest one eagerly._

 _"What did you see inside the prison? What is happening?" she asked, pushing the microphone over to the guard._

 _He opened his mouth to speak, but a portion of the prison wall burst open, interrupting them. The camera panned to the side, leaving Nadja to take only a corner of the screen. The dust cleared quickly to reveal the whole. It looked as if the bricks had moved out of place instead of been blown out of the way._

 _"I am Nemesis, and Paris shall pay!" she cried. Her hair was a glimmering bronze, and bright red eyes looked out over the crowd. She lifted her hands and the screen went black._

Marinette stared at the screen for a moment before turning to Tikki. "This isn't good. We've got to get over there. Spots on!"


	10. Chapter Ten: Nemesis

**Chapter Ten: Nemesis**

Ladybug left a note on the door to her room for her parents. Now they would think that she had left the house out the front door instead of the bakery, and had gone to hang out with Alya for the evening. She hoped that she would be back in time for dinner, but if not, that should keep them from worrying about her.

She easily climbed onto the balcony and threw her yo-yo, wrapping it around the nearest pillar. The prison was a ways away, but hopefully Chat Noir would get there in time. If he was still transformed, that is.

* * *

Chat Noir landed at the prison, his eyes roving the scene. Cars had been thrown to the side, and everyone seemed to be in some state of shock. Nemesis was farther down, objects flying around her. From his vantage, he couldn't see exactly what she was doing. He started walking towards her but was stopped when someone grabbed his arm tightly.

"Don't go over there, Chat Noir," a prison guard begged. He had staggered to his feet, standing unsteadily next to him.

Gently shaking his hand free, Chat looked over to the haggard-looking guard. The man looked like he had been through a lot in the past few minutes. His eyes were wide and slightly red, with bags underneath. His black hair had been lightened by dust and ash. "Why shouldn't I go over there?" he asked.

The guard looked over at Nemesis, taking a step back in reflex. "You don't want to deal with her alone," he said, his voice shaking.

"What does she do?" he asked, trying to see what Nemesis was doing in the distance, but her body blocked it.

"She can fill you with so much pain… As if you lost the person you were closest to," the guard said. "I saw her come in to question one of the prisoners. She forced him to tell her the truth about if he committed the crime. When he said he did, she flipped. Things started flying, and the lights shattered. She went around the entire prison causing pandemonium everywhere she went. You can't face her, Chat Noir. Not without Ladybug. You won't make it without her."

Chat was about to respond when the guard was shoved away by an invisible force. He snapped his head forward to see Nemesis approaching.

"Hello, Chat Noir," she said angrily. Her red eyes pierced his green ones, sending a wave of emotional pain crashing through him. Images of his mother flashed in his mind, along with the devastation her loss had brought to his family.

Nemesis lifted a hand and pointed at him. "Tell me, where is Ladybug?"

It was as if a hand suddenly had a grip on his throat. He reached a hand up but felt only the top of his suit and the bell. But the crushing force remained. Chat struggled to take a breath, but nothing came. Despite this, however, he found words coming out of his mouth.

"I don't know."

A purple butterfly appeared in front of her face, but she kept the truth inducement focused on him.

"Yes, Hawk Moth. Chat Noir, who are you outside of your mask?" she demanded, the image fading away.

Chat's eyes widened, and he took a few steps back, hoping that some distance would stop this effect. No. I can't say it. I can't let her make me say it! But he could already feel the words coming out, no matter how much he tried to fight it. "M-my name is -"

A red yo-yo flew through the sky, wrapping around Nemesis's hand, and yanking it off course. Chat Noir sucked in a large breath, gulping desperately for air. His trusty partner landed next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and nodded to her unspoken question about if he was okay. Catching his breath would take a moment, but he was fine nonetheless.

"Never thought I'd wish I was lion so much, Milady," Chat said breathlessly.

Ladybug didn't even bother to roll her eyes at the comment, instead focusing on Nemesis.

"Don't look her in the eyes," Chat grunted, standing next to her at the ready. She nodded, changing her eyes so they didn't match the akuma's gaze.

"Stop terrorizing these people, Nemesis!" Ladybug said, swinging her yo-yo as she watched her. If they weren't in imminent danger, Chat would have stopped to admire her posture. She was so serious and confident when facing an akuma.

Nemesis glared, her anger clearly intensifying. The butterfly appeared again, and she said something quietly to Hawk Moth. When it vanished, she was smiling evilly. "I'll stop with these ones, but you won't stop me. Only I can enact the judgment Paris needs, even for you," she said in a poisonously sweet voice.

"I will get your Miraculouses, but for now," her smile grew, "you are going to be a little busy."

Chat Noir shared a look with Ladybug, but before either could say a thing objects were flying at them. At first, it was mostly bricks, which they deflected with their weapons. Then, they started coming faster and faster, making it difficult to block them all.

The sound of metal moving caught his attention, and Chat looked up. His eyes widened at what he saw. Without even thinking, he knocked Ladybug to the ground, staying over her like a shield. The cars collided with one another. One knocked Chat Noir over, giving him a solid knock to the head with a mirror. His staff fell out of his hand as he lie under the ever-piling rubble, dazed.

Both cars were wedged at odd angles, propped against each other. Bricks and other items from the scene continued to fly towards them, blocking them under a pile. His mind struggled to process this at first, and his ears rang like they never had before. He could tell, however, that he and Ladybug seemed somewhat safe underneath the two vehicles.

"Chat Noir! Chat Noir, can you hear me?!" Ladybug's distant voice finally became audible amongst the high-pitched ringing. Chat turned his head to the right and saw his partner staring at him with eyes wide and filled with worry.

"Are you all right, Milady?" he asked, the processes of his brain starting to return to normal speed.

She sighed, closing her eyes for just a moment before looking down at her leg. "A brick hit me, but I'll be okay. What about you- Chat, you're bleeding!"

"What? How can I be bleeding?" Chat reached a hand up to his head where the car had struck him. Indeed, there was a trickle of something warm and wet in his hair. He pulled his hand away, staring at the red on his fingers in shock. After fighting akumas at least twice a week for almost a year, he had never been hurt like this before. He'd been hit by things how many times, and not a mark? Now that it had been pointed it out, the pain was obvious.

Ladybug moved a little bit closer, propping herself up on her elbows to examine his wound. She parted his hair, gingerly touching a spot on his head. Chat took a hissing intake of breath, jerking away. Her touch had sent a fresh stab of pain from the wound.

"That doesn't look so good, Chat Noir. We need to get out of here so we can take care of it," she said.

He shook his head, wincing slightly. "No, I'm fine. We've got to deal with Nemesis before she hurts everyone else. Is there a way out of here?"

She gave him an uncertain look but started looking for a way out anyway. It seemed that Nemesis had packed the rubble around them to purposefully trap them in a dome. The thumping outside had stopped, so they could only guess that Nemesis had left the premises.

Chat groaned, flipping over so he could help her look, grabbing his staff as he did so. There was a drop of blood on the ground, but it seemed that his wound wasn't bleeding very much. At least some of his indestructible nature seemed to be intact.

The two of them searched amongst the bricks to look for a hole they could crawl through. They moved bricks and tried to look around the cars, but there was just too much. Every time they moved a brick, two more fell around them. Occasionally, they would move one that made a portion of the makeshift ceiling shift. There would be no digging their way out of here.

"Do you think my Cataclysm would work on this?" Chat asked, looking at the collection of rubble from the prison.

Ladybug sighed, maneuvering herself so she could look at him again. "I think it's our only chance. Who knows what Nemesis is doing?"

He nodded, lifted his right hand. "Cataclysm!" A wave of destructive energy washed through him, then concentrated into his hand. Chat lifted it and brushed it along the bricks, going in an arc as far as he could reach. All of the debris turned black, then faded away into dust.

Chat stood up, Ladybug next to him. No one was around them in a 25 feet radius. They had taken a step towards the nearest person when Ladybug gasped sharply and stopped. He looked to the side to see his beautiful partner bent over and rubbing her shin.

"Ladybug?" he asked worriedly.

"I guess that brick got me harder than I thought…" Ladybug said, frowning.

She put her foot back on the ground, attempting to take another step. When that matched the effectiveness of the last step, Chat looped his arm around her. Her's went around his shoulders and he half-carried her in their desired direction. They talked to the first person they came to and found out which direction Nemesis had gone.

Ladybug moved her arm so she had a grip on him. He adjusted his own hold so that when she swung her yo-yo they were both taken up into the sky.

* * *

They caught up with Nemesis near the Eiffel Tower. She was approaching a crowd of people, several of which were already fleeing. Ladybug stopped on the ground not far from her. Chat immediately moved to support her and they started walking forward.

"Hey, Nemesis!" she called.

Nemesis turned her head around, her eyes filled with malice from being distracted from her victims. She swept away from them, facing the two heroes head on. Chat Noir looked down quickly, but before Ladybug could do the same, their eyes locked.

A sadness unlike anything she had felt before hit her. The strength of the emotion physically made her chest hurt. Images of her parents disappearing filled her mind. There was an akuma while she was at school, and she had no idea. She came home and they were gone. Then she and Chat fought the akuma and her powers didn't bring them back. They were gone. She'd lost them forever and - Tears started to prickle in her eyes.

Ladybug's grip slackened around Chat Noir and she slipped from his grasp, falling to her knees. The second the eye contact broke, the fake memories faded.

Chat lifted her up carefully, placing her arm around his shoulders. "I told you not to look in her eyes," he whispered into her ear. She nodded.

"No kidding."

They looked back at Nemesis, careful to avoid looking directly into her eyes. The fact that she lost eye contact seemed to make her even angrier. Her hair started moving to a nonexistent windstorm, and objects around the tower started flying in random directions. They weren't aimed at them this time, but several came very close to hitting them.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir," Nemesis spat. "You two are pests who know nothing of true justice. You are not the heroes that Paris truly needs."

This time, something did come directly at them, or rather, directly at her. Ladybug didn't see the trashcan until it would have been too late. Chat Noir's hearing, however, saved her once more. Chat pushed her to the ground, where she landed on her hands. He extended his staff and knocked it out of the way right as something else flew at him.

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug called. She reached out and pulled his leg, knocking him to the ground. He yelped, almost hitting his head on the ground. Luckily, he caught himself just in time.

Nemesis chuckled. "How cute! The heroes both take risks to save the other one. But let's see how both of you truly feel." She lifted a hand and pointed it at Chat Noir, who had just stood up. He now looked like he had when she had shown up - like he was choking.

"Tell me, Chat Noir, how do you feel about Ladybug?"

His eyes widened, almost in fear. "I-I… I love her with everything I have," he finally said.

This time, Ladybug was the one whose eyes widened. "I-I'm what?!" No, he can't actually love me. Why does he have to actually love me?!

Chat took a deep breath as the hand moved from him to Ladybug.

Ladybug reached her left hand to her throat, suddenly feeling as if someone was pressing a boot down on it even though she was sitting up. She couldn't breathe, couldn't speak, no matter how desperately she tried. This must have been what she was doing to him when she arrived, and what she had done just now. That meant - Oh no.

"And now for Ladybug," Nemesis said, "How do you feel about Chat Noir? Do you return his undying love?"

She fought it. She fought it with everything she had, but the more she did, the worse it got. Her lungs were starting to scream at her for oxygen, and her body was betraying her. No matter what she did, her body wanted to speak.

"He's a great partner, and one of my best friends. But I do not love him like that."

* * *

After what happened to his mother, Chat had never thought a simple sentence could shatter his heart like that ever again. He was wrong. He had known Ladybug didn't love him like he did her, but somehow he'd deluded himself into thinking that on some level she did love him. Hearing that she didn't when she couldn't lie… Nemesis might as well have just ripped his heart out herself.

A couple feet from him, Ladybug tried to stand up but faltered. "Chat Noir… Chat Noir, please, it's not what it seems like-"

Each word was like a dagger in his heart. He looked over at Nemesis, a fury of his own mixing with his sadness as his ring beeped. There were only a few minutes left, if they didn't find the akuma now he'd have to abandon Ladybug. A handcuff bracelet caught his attention.

Chat walked over to Ladybug and helped her up. "The akuma is in a bracelet on her arm," he said, doing his best to outwardly seem like nothing had happened.

She looked over and nodded. Ladybug grabbed her yo-yo and tossed it into the air, shouting her normal, "Lucky Charm!"

Ladybug-themed duct tape fell into her hand. They both stared at it incredulously for a second before she started looking around. Her eyes focused first on Nemesis, then on Chat's face.

"We have to cover our mouths. She can't make us reveal our identities," she said as Nemesis started approaching them.

Chat nodded, accepting the first portion of tape she tore off. He placed it over his lips, almost glad that the two of them would not be able to talk. There was no way he wanted to hear the words she would inevitably think would comfort him.

She placed a piece over her own mouth, then secured the roll on her hip. Together, they prepared to up against Nemesis. Ladybug held her yo-yo in her free hand, and Chat gripped his staff in his. Being so close to her made him feel worse, but he knew that right now, there was nothing he could do about it.

A butterfly appeared in front of Nemesis's face once more. "I am going to get them, Hawk Moth," she said furiously. The form vanished, and she pointed her hands at both of them. The choke hold resumed, but both of them tried their best to ignore it.

"Tell me who you are!" she shouted.

Both of them mumbled something completely incoherent through the tape, still approaching her. Her hands closed into fists, and Chat stopped walking. The invisible grip on his throat had tightened, and he felt his entire body screaming for air. He forced himself to resume walking, though it was harder to keep his thoughts on something other than the crushing force. Glancing to his left, Ladybug seemed to be having just as hard a time.

They locked eyes for just a moment, and an understanding passed between them.

Chat Noir picked her up, jumping over Nemesis and landing behind her. He let her down, grabbing the akuma victim's arms and holding them tightly behind her. They were suddenly able to breathe, but she started to struggle instantly. Ladybug had the duct tape in hand, already wrapping her hands in it.

"Let me go!" she screamed. Items flew at them, but Chat easily deflected them with his staff. Ladybug grabbed the bracelet on her arm, ripping it in half. It clattered to the ground, and an akuma wriggled out of it.

Both Chat and Ladybug tore off the duct tape. She slid her finger straight down her yo-yo and it opened up to reveal glowing whiteness. "Time to de-evilize!" she said, catching the akuma inside it.

"Bye-bye little butterfly." She tapped the side of it, releasing the purified butterfly. Then, she tossed the duct tape into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The wave of magic swept around, putting everything back into its place, then surrounded the two of them last. The pain in Chat's head lessened, but it wasn't fully gone like it should have been. That thought didn't matter now, though. He was too distracted by what Ladybug had said to obliterate his heart. Logically, he knew he shouldn't be mad. It wasn't her fault if she didn't feel the same way right now.

Ladybug crouched next to the latest victim as the purple mass disappeared around her. Her hair was brown instead of bronze, and her eyes blue instead of red. She looked down at the ground, apparently shocked.

"Are you okay?" Ladybug asked.

"M-my best friend was arrested for a string of bank robberies… I vouched for him. He let me believe he was innocent. But… but I was wrong. He lied to me, he did do it," she said, her voice shaking.

The red hero sighed, searching for the words of comfort she could give this girl. "Sometimes bad things happen to good people," she said. Her gaze moved from the woman, who was still staring at the ground. Instead, she was looking at Chat Noir.

"And sometimes good people do bad things. But you can't let the actions of someone else ruin your life."

Chat stared into her eyes and saw sadness and worry there. He shook his head, looking towards home. His ring beeped again. One minute. "I have to go, LB. I'll see you next patrol."

In the next minute, he got as far away from the Eiffel Tower as he could. He had to stop not far from his house, but he couldn't make it all the way before his transformation fell. He stopped behind a tree, sitting and leaning his back against it. Plagg flew out of the ring. He wasted no time in complaining.

"Aahh, why do we have to do that so often? First, you had to talk to Marinette, then fight an akuma? That was way too draining. I need some camem-" Plagg stopped talking when he noticed Adrien's expression.

His eyes were closed, and he was fighting so many emotions. Anger, sorrow, confusion. The sound of Ladybug's words echoed through his head.

"Come on, Adrien. Just because she doesn't love you now doesn't mean that she won't ever," Plagg tried to console him.

Adrien sighed, resting his head against the tree. He was about to respond when his phone started ringing in his pocket. Pulling it out, he saw a phone call from Nathalie. His eyes widened and he stood up immediately.

"I'm late. I'm so so late. Father is going to kill me!" he opened his jacket for Plagg, then started running towards his house.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Juxtaposition

**I know this chapter took a while to get out, and I apologize. I've started to struggle a little bit, so I'm going to be taking a two-week break so I can come back and look at it with fresh eyes. I promise that I'll have chapter twelve up two weeks from now!**

* * *

 **Chapter Eleven: Juxtaposition**

Marinette was laying on her bed, hands covering her face. "Agh, Tikki! Could today have gone any worse?" she moaned.

"You can't do anything about the fact that you were late, Marinette. You were only grounded for a couple days because of it," Tikki said.

She put her hands down, giving Tikki a look of disdain. "I don't mean just with my parents. But everything with Chat Noir. He was so kind today. He saved me twice. And what did I do? I broke his heart. Did you see the look on his face? What is he going to do on our next patrol? I can't even imagine what he might be thinking right now!"

The red kwami floated next to her, looking at her with worry. "Isn't it better this way? It could have been more delicate, but he would have to find out eventually. Letting him go on believing that you might love him would just hurt him even more. Now he can move on."

Marinette groaned. "I know, I know. But he just looked so hurt. He's one of my best friends, I hate that I was the one to make him feel that way. I've got to apologize somehow. Do something to make him feel better, you know?"

"Whatever you do, I would make it fast. You have a patrol in two days, and he's going to be hurting then," Tikki said.

Unhooking the necklace around her neck, Marinette stared at the expensive silver ladybug. It was such a beautiful piece of jewelry, and now she knew the true meaning behind it. He hadn't given it to her because they were friends and partners. He'd done it because he was in love with her. The necklace was like the scarf she had once made for Adrien, except that she knew who this was from, and she had actually turned him down.

It took her awhile to fall asleep, unable to stop thinking about the pained look on Chat Noir's face during the akuma attack.

* * *

When Adrien got home, he was immediately faced by a surprisingly mad Nathalie. His father's assistant showed more emotion than his father, but she was more apathetic than most people. She and his bodyguard were waiting for him in the foyer. They had taken him to his bedroom without saying a word.

"Where have you been, Adrien?" Nathalie asked the second the door was closed behind them.

Adrien looked down, quickly trying to think of some excuse to appease her. Obviously, she couldn't know he was out as Chat Noir, but why else would he have been gone for so long? He couldn't do anything that would involve his friends, Nathalie was far too efficient to be tricked by that. She would check up on anything he said.

 _The akuma! There's always so much chaos, there's no way she could check!_

"I went to the Eiffel tower for a while and I lost track of time. An akuma attacked, and I started running home. My phone was on silent so I didn't get your calls until a few minutes ago. I"m so sorry, Nathalie. I just needed to get out for a while," he said. He looked up at her, praying that mixing some truth into his lie would help.

She stared down at him, then nodded. "You should have told us, and taken your bodyguard. Your father is busy tonight, and I did not want to bother him. Tomorrow morning he will be informed, and he will inform you of your punishment." Without another word, both of them left the room. They gave him a long look before closing the door, but Adrien was inevitably left alone.

Plagg flew out of his jacket with a whine. "They're so annoying. Why can't they just let you leave for once?"

Adrien groaned, sitting down at his desk. "Because my father will kill them, and me. You know that he's not exactly relaxed."

They sat in silence for a time, Plagg going to find cheese, and Adrien looking around at nothing.

"What are you doing to do about Ladybug?" Plagg finally asked around a mouthful of cheese.

At this, Adrien fell backward onto his bed. A pain shot through his head, making him lift his hand to where the car had hit him. However, he ignored it. The pain he felt from Ladybug's words was worse. "I don't know. I can't exactly force her to love me, can I?"

He got up, going over to his desk. Searching through one of the shelves next to it, he found the heart-shaped paper he had received last valentine's day. For the millionth time, he read the words written on it. He'd thought this had meant Ladybug liked him. But that was a year ago, and she had never done anything about it.

Plagg rolled his eyes, sitting on the desk next to him. The kwami ate his wedge of cheese while Adrien re-read and re-read the letter. Each time, he imagined his beloved Ladybug writing down the words. However, now that image was disintegrating. Had it even been from her at all?

"Yo, Adrien. You forgot your science book at school."

Adrien looked up quickly to see his best friend stepping into the room from behind the wall segregating his bed from the door. Plagg dropped his piece of cheese, hiding in Adrien's white shirt before Adrien could even process the sudden arrival of his friend. It was getting late, and after the trouble he was in, he never expected this.

He looked down at the card in his hand. Crap. No, he can't see this! Snapping it closed, Adrien shot into a standing position. He hid the paper under his keyboard as fast as he could, hoping that Nino didn't see it. For obvious reasons, he hadn't told his best friend about the note from Ladybug. To start, it would have involved telling him about why he was so in love that he was writing a letter that he planned to give to Ladybug personally. He couldn't exactly explain that he was Chat Noir.

Using a little more force than was necessary to place the keyboard over the letter, Adrien covered it as best he could. Adrien looked over at Nino, staying between his friend's line of sight and the letter.

"H-hey, Nino! What are you doing here?" Adrien asked nervously.

Nino looked behind Adrien, trying to see what he was hiding. "What was that?"

"Oh, uh, nothing. You said I left my textbook at school?" he said, changing the topic as fast as he could.

"Yeah," Nino said, holding up the book, "I stayed after class and noticed you left it. Sorry I couldn't come by earlier, but someone wanted me to do a DJ audition for their party."

Adrien walked over, not failing to notice that Nino was still trying to look at the heart-shaped letter haphazardly hidden under the keyboard. Nino handed him the textbook, finally taking his eyes off the keyboard behind him.

Nathalie showed up at the door, looking down at both boys. "You are going to have to leave now. Adrien is not allowed to hang out with friends at the moment."

"Thanks for the textbook, Nino. I'll see you at school tomorrow," Adrien sighed. His friend nodded, waving farewell before allowing Nathalie to usher him out of the room.

* * *

Adrien stood in front of the mirror, carefully moving his hair. After Nino had left, he'd discovered that there was still a pain in his head because there was still a wound. It had stopped bleeding, thankfully, and all of the blood had vanished with his transformation.

The only good thing that had happened was that only Nathalie and his bodyguard had known he was gone. However, that wasn't going to last. Adrien would be having a confrontation with his father before he left for school.

He carefully styled his hair to hide the injury. There were no photo shoots until just before the fashion show, so that meant no one but himself would be messing around with his hair for a while. But if his father saw any sign whatsoever of the cut sustained from the car, he'd be in more trouble than ever before. He'd be lucky to ever see his friends again if it came to light, let alone to go back to school.

"Agh!" Adrien winced, having accidentally jabbed the cut with his finger.

"You should just tell your father, then you won't have to go to school," Plagg said. "School is so much work."

"You don't even do anything but sleep and eat camembert while I'm at school," Adrien said. He examined the left side of his head, making sure there was no sign of the wound. Shaking his head experimentally, he checked again. His blonde hair still hid any sign of his exploits the previous day. He sighed in relief, stepping away from the mirror.

Plagg flew next to him lazily as he left the bathroom. "I may not do any of the work, but I still have to wake up at the crack of dawn like you do," he complained.

Adrien grabbed his bag, which was strewn across his bed ready for him to leave for breakfast. Taking a deep breath to prepare himself, he left his room to eat whatever his personal chef had prepared that morning. He half expected his father to be just outside the door, or waiting in the dining room, but he wasn't. In fact, it wasn't until Adrien was nearly done with his meal that Gabriel Agreste showed up.

He stood tall, giving away an aura of disapproval as he looked down at his son. That was the only look he seemed to have lately. Adrien felt riddled with guilt looking into that gaze.

"I've been informed that you left. Again," Gabriel said.

"I…" Adrien tried to think of a way to defend himself, but he couldn't think of anything. At least not anything that would remotely work against him. "I'm sorry, Father."

"You should be. Because you seem determined to remain disobedient, I am forced to use a stronger punishment. All of the windows in your room are going to be sealed, and somebody will be outside the door to your room at all times. You are not permitted to go anywhere outside of this house without your bodyguard or Nathalie. If you are so much as a minute late to any of your lessons I will pull you out of school immediately. Do you understand?" Gabriel said.

Adrien nodded, looking down at his plate.

"Good. This is all to keep you safe, Adrien. You might think the world is a safe place, but it is not."

He looked up again, surprised by the brief expression of worry in his father's voice. It did not last, however.

"Nathalie will give you your schedule before you leave," he said. His father turned and left the room, leaving Adrien alone with his assistant.

She walked up to him, handing him a tablet to show him his schedule for the day. He scanned it quickly, noting the few changes on it from his normal classes. He had fencing instead of study hall… he'd have to be careful with the headgear… And play practice after school… Oh no. They're measuring for costumes today.

He handed it back, but before he could just request that one of the designers for his father's company just give him the measurements, his bodyguard appeared in the doorway.

"It's time for you to leave for school. Your father will expect you back for lunch today. Is there something you would like to request?" Nathalie asked.

Adrien sighed, shaking his head. "Whatever he wants to make today. I'll see you then, Nathalie." He stood up and followed his bodyguard outside and to the silver car.

* * *

Marinette made sure to wake up early the next day - something she was rarely even capable of doing. However, today it was necessary. Her leg was still bruised from the brick that had hit it during the akuma attack, and she could only walk so far without a slight limp. Getting to school would take a little bit more time, and she intended to be in the classroom already when Alya arrived. Getting grilled about Chat Noir would be bad enough, there was no way she was answering questions about her mystery limp too.

She carefully got out of bed and got ready quickly, then went downstairs to grab breakfast from the kitchen. Both of her parents were down in the bakery this morning, so she didn't run into any trouble while she rushed through her meal.

The walk to school wasn't as bad as she thought it might be. She still had a limp, but she made better time than she had imagined. There were only a few students milling about when she arrived. Her leg throbbed with each step, but even going up the stairs to the class was much easier than she had anticipated.

When she got to the classroom, it was completely empty. Smiling contently, she sat in her seat and pulled out her sketchpad. She was eventually taken out of her thoughts when her classmates started filing in. Nino and Adrien found their seats in front of her after Adrien extricated himself from Chloe, Max and Kim walked in, and Alya sat next to her.

"Okay, you have to let me interview you for the Ladyblog!" Alya said. "The video of you and Chat Noir is blowing up!"

"Uh, what? Really? People care that much?" Marinette asked worriedly.

Alya nodded, showing Marinette her phone. She scrolled through a list of comments so long that Marinette could barely comprehend how many people were freaking out over it. Marinette looked up at her friend, her mouth hanging open in shock.

"Did you hang out with Chat Noir?" Adrien asked, turning to look at Marinette with curious eyes.

Her eyes widened, and she felt herself start to panic. Yes, I did. But it didn't mean anything! Please don't think that I like Chat Noir in that way!

"Y-yeah! He showed up while I was in the park, and he ended up taking me home," Marinette said. She rubbed the back of her neck, smiling down at him.

"Whoa, really?" Nino asked.

"Is he cool? I'd love to have met him," Adrien said. "I can't believe that he and Ladybug save us almost every other day."

Marinette nodded, thinking back to just the other day when she had seen Chat Noir. He'd seemed happy while they were hanging out. "I thought he was really cool. His jokes are terrible, but I think that underneath that he's a really good person."

This sentence shocked Marinette. She hadn't thought about when she'd seen him as Marinette, just when she crushed him as Ladybug. However, she realized that what she said was true. Chat Noir didn't really show a sensitive side much in front of Ladybug, but for a minute there he had in front of Marinette. Now she felt even worse for crushing his heart.

Adrien seemed stunned, but happy, at her response. He opened his mouth to say something when Ms. Bustier walked in, and the bell for classes rang.

* * *

When the class was dismissed at the end of the day, everyone took a short break. They were running through a scene with Storyteller today, so Marinette spent that time going over the script again. She had it pretty much memorized, but she had to make sure. Especially since she'd be working with Adrien.

Most everyone else was chatting excitedly about the first big practice as a group. The only other one who sat alone was Adrien, who seemed too deep in thought to do anything regarding the play. He didn't have his script out, but he was leaning back in his seat, just staring at the ceiling. Marinette found her gaze drawn away from her script and to the back of his head. His golden hair was styled differently than he normally had it.

Before she could start thinking of why, Alya showed up next to her. "You might want to stop staring, people are gonna notice. You should go talk to him," she whispered.

Marinette started, looking quickly over to Alya. Her friend gave her a knowing smile, then walked to the front of the room where Nino was standing. They started talking together with Max, looking over the script.

Gulping, the young bluenette stood up and moved to where Nino normally sat. "M-mind if here I sit? I mean, mind if I sit here?" she stammered out.

Adrien looked up, clearly surprised to be shaken out of his thoughts. "Sure, go ahead. Are you ready for the scene today?"

She nodded, sitting down and setting the script on the table. "I think so. I still can't believe that they were able to make me do this, though. I can barely act in front of you three, let alone in front of the entire class."

This brought a smile to the boy's face. "Are you kidding? You did amazing the other day! You just need to get into character again, and you'll be just as great."

Marinette smiled as well. "Not as good as you. You seem to be a natural at pretending to be Chat Noir. If I didn't know better, I'd say that you were him," she joked.

He laughed, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "It must be my modeling. I obviously can't be Chat Noir, so it's got to be that."

The two talked for a few minutes, mostly keeping the topic on the play. Once the break was over, Alya got the entire class's attention so Nino could speak.

"Okay, dudes! We're going to start today by having Rose and Juleka take measurements for costumes. If we want to have them all ready in time with all of our schoolwork, we need to get started on them now," Nino said. "We'll start with Marinette, Adrien, and Nathaniel since their costumes will require the most work, and therefore the most measurements."

Marinette stood up, going to the front of the room along with Adrien and Nathaniel. Juleka started on Adrien, Rose on Nathaniel, and Mylene helped out by taking Marinette's measurements. She had done this for herself before, but having someone else wrap the measuring tape around her own arms, waist, legs, and everything else was a strange experience.

She looked over at Adrien, who looked perfectly at ease with the whole situation like it was no different than breathing. It took her a minute to realize that it must have been because of his time as a model. People were probably doing this all the time.

"H-how often do they do this for you? A-a-as a model, I mean," Marinette asked.

Adrien looked over at her, smiling. "They always do it when Father comes out with a new line. They've got to make sure everything fits before I do a photo shoot. What about you? You don't seem too uncomfortable with this."

"Oh! I make a lot of my own clothes," Marinette said.

"Really? I knew your designs were great, but I didn't know you actually made them!"

A deep blush covered her face. "Y-yeah. I love clothes making. I love making clothes!"

They sat in silence for a minute until Marinette and Nathaniel had to sit down so they could measure their heads for the masks. The two of them obeyed dutifully. Juleka was tall enough to reach Adrien effectively, so he didn't have to sit down. She wrapped the tape around his head, and he jerked out of the way. His hand reached up to the left side of his head, and he laughed nervously.

"I can actually get you those measurements from my father. I'll be sure to have them ready for you tomorrow," he said.

"Uh, okay," Juleka replied. When all three girls were done measuring, they hurried and moved on to get the measurements of Chloe and Kim. Chloe took longer from complaining about being touched by people she deemed lesser than herself, but eventually, all of the measurements were taken.

Alya stepped up in front of the class to address everyone. "Alright people! We are now going to start our first official run-through of a scene. Right now we're going to focus on when Ladybug and Chat Noir fight Storyteller, but next practice we're going to be doing more than one scene. We're going to start from where Ladybug and Chat Noir meet up to beat Storyteller. Let's all get into our places!"

Marinette gulped, going to stand just outside the door, while Adrien went to stand a few feet away. Nathaniel stood near the outside window, along with those playing background characters.

"And action!" Nino called from the back where he sat with Alya, along with those working backstage.

Marinette walked into the room, and Adrien came up next to her. Both of them were looking towards Nathaniel. It was apparent by their stances that the two of them were ready to fight.

"What's the story of this akuma?" Adrien asked, using the exact same tone Chat Noir would have. Marinette couldn't help but feel that he even had the way Chat Noir stood down perfectly. The thought made herself conscious of how she was standing. It felt like she was standing with too straight a back and too little confidence. That was good. It would keep her just different enough from herself as Ladybug.

"He makes people into characters from a book, and he controls them. He makes changes in that collection of pages, and it's almost like their story changes. They will do whatever he wants them to," Marinette said.

Adrien nodded. Together, they moved towards Nathaniel.

* * *

Right when practice ended, Adrien got a text from his bodyguard saying he was in front of the school. The model sighed. He'd hoped that he would have been at least a few minutes late.

Adrien waved goodbye to Nino and headed for the door with his stuff. At the entrance, however, he turned back to look at all of his friends. His eyes caught sight of Marinette talking to Alya, who was speaking very animatedly. Realizing what he was doing, Adrien hurried out of the class and to the silver vehicle.

He got home and went directly to his room, not at all surprised that his father didn't greet him. Adrien did his best to work on his homework, but ended up stopping halfway through. He went to sit on his couch and played a little bit of Ultimate Mecha Strike III. After the first game, he stopped that as well.

His mind was too busy thinking about Ladybug and, for some reason, Marinette. She'd seemed more confident today. More like she was around Chat. And what she had said about him… Even Ladybug didn't tend to see what was underneath his exterior as Chat.

"She's an interesting girl…" he whispered, still deep in thought.

* * *

Marinette spent the entire walk home from school trying to tell Alya she would be terrible in an interview. The blogger persisted, however, until Marinette consented.

"Okay, I'll do it! I'll let you interview me for the Ladyblog," Marinette sighed. "But can we do it another day? I lost track of time yesterday and came home really late. I'm grounded, so I'd rather get inside before I end up in even more trouble."

Alya nodded. "Of course, Girl. Maybe we can do the interview during lunch tomorrow or something. Good luck with the parents."

They parted ways. Alya took the path to her own house, and Marinette entered through the bakery. Her parents greeted her with smiles, but Marinette went right through so she could get started on her homework.

When she finished, she once again found herself taking off the ladybug necklace. She had been wearing it underneath her shirt so she didn't risk anybody finding it in her room.

"Tikki, do you think there's something about Chat Noir that I'm missing? I spend so much time with him as Ladybug, but I've never seen anything as genuine as when he was looking at the view from the top of the school"

The red kwami flew over to Marinette, looking at the necklace with her. "I think there is a side to everyone that we don't see. No one knows who you are as Marinette when you're Ladybug, after all."

Marinette sighed. "I guess. I just wish I could see what I'm missing. He's my best friend aside from Alya, and now I feel like I barely know who he is."

"You'll just have to try getting to know him some more," Tikki said.

"You're right. Worrying isn't going to help. I need to make an effort to get to know Chat better if I want to do anything to fix this," Marinette said, nodding.


	12. Chapter Twelve: Immersion

**I am so sorry for how long it took for me to write this chapter. When I went on hiatus, I did not intend for it to last so long. Life just chose that time to rebel, and I, unfortunately, lost the will (and inspiration) to write this for a while. I hope to try to get back into writing this, though I know chapters won't come out as often as before. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter Twelve: Immersion**

As soon as lunch started the next day, Alya was stuffing her stuff into her backpack and taking out her phone. "Are you ready for the interview?" she asked.

Marinette looked up from her own pack. "What? Oh, yeah! I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Where did you want to do it?" she asked, the two of them standing up.

Alya looked around, thinking. Marinette watched as her friend scrutinized her options, looking towards the door first, then the window, then the back of the class. "How about we stay here? Everyone normally leaves for lunch anyway, so the room should be empty in a minute."

Setting her bag back on her seat, Marinette waited with Alya while the rest of the class filed out. The only ones that remained other than them were Adrien and Nino. The blunette's cheeks started to burn when they moved their gazes to them.

"You guys look like you're preparing to do something. What's going on?" Adrien asked.

"I'm going to interview Marinette for the Ladyblog. She's going to give us the juicy details on her little trip with Chat Noir," Alya said, pulling the camera up on her phone. "I've got the inside scoop here with Marinette owing me for all of the times I've-"

An awkward, high-pitched laugh escaped Marinette's lips. "L-let's just get started! We've - we've still got to eat before class starts again, so we should get this done!" Marinette waved her hands wildly, desperate to prevent Alya from mentioning all of the times that she'd saved her from doing or saying something stupid in front of the model.

Alya laughed. "Okay, girl, don't worry. Let's get some chairs so you can sit in the front."

"We can get those for you, can't we Nino?" Adrien offered, looking over to the DJ for confirmation.

Nino nodded his assent. "Just give us a sec and we'll be back." He left with Adrien to go get some chairs for the two girls.

"Alya!" Marinette exclaimed the second they were gone. "What was that?!"

Her friend smiled and shook her head. "Chill out, that boy is so oblivious I could probably tell him to his face about your crush and he wouldn't realize it."

"He's not /that/ bad," Marinette defended. Then her panic returned. "And what would I do if he found out? I'd have to switch schools! I could never show my face here again! I could never go anywhere again!" She hung her head, arms dangling loosely.

Alya placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well, he's never going to find out unless you tell him, so you're fine. Why don't you just focus on your meetings with Chat Noir? It should get your mind off of Adrien for a while."

Marinette nodded with a sigh. "Yeah, okay."

As she walked over to Ms. Bustier's empty desk, Nino and Adrien returned. They each held one chair taken from another classroom. Nino placed his next to Alya and Adrien put his next to Marinette. The proximity of her crush made a pink tinge find its way to her cheeks.

She looked at him, unable to completely hide the adoring look on her face. /Even his hands are beautiful. They're perfect!/ she thought, noting his flawless skin and immaculately done nails. Everything about him - from the way the sun shone off his golden hair, to the way he laughed when he found something genuinely funny - was mesmerizing.

"Do you mind if we stay and watch the interview? I could even record it for you. It would be totally sweet to see it before you put it on your blog." Nino smiled, elbowing Adrien. "Besides this one has been dying to hear Marinette's opinion on Chat Noir."

"Nino!" Adrien protested. Then he looked over at Marinette, a rare look of embarrassment ripping the air from her lungs. "I, uh, I just think that it'll be nice to hear about Chat Noir. Everyone's always talking about Ladybug, and you don't hear about him as much, you know?"

Marinette found herself momentarily stunned by the words, and it wasn't just that they had come from his peach-colored lips. She was going to be a source of information about Chat Noir. Even ignoring her own alter-ego, she'd experienced something that no one else had. He'd shown a vulnerable side that he kept hidden even from Ladybug.

But she had also broken his heart just a couple days before.

"You can stay as long as you don't blab about anything before it's up on my blog," Alya said. "Is that cool with you, M?"

"Huh? Uh, yeah yeah. You stay can definitely guys!" she said before her response could even be decided in her mind.

Adrien smiled. "You mean, 'you guys can definitely stay'?"

Her cheeks burned as her blush deepened. "Y-yeah."

"The two of us will just sit over here, okay?" Nino said. He took Alya's phone from her to film, then started to their usual seat with Adrien. Alya nodded, adjusting the seats so they would be seen from the right angle on the video.

Sitting down, Marinette desperately fought the blood that refused to rush away from her cheeks. The two boys stared at her as they waited. The pair of glimmering green eyes were like magnets, her light blue ones drawn to the gaze. She glanced over at them at least five times in as many seconds before her best friend sat down.

"You ready?"

Taking a deep breath, she gave a determined nod. "Ready."

Alya nodded to Nino, who tapped the blogger's phone to start recording. "So, Marinette. You recently had a run-in with Chat Noir. Can you tell us about what happened?"

Adrien was distracted for the rest of the day. The interview had left him totally shocked. Marinette had spoken about him - well, about Chat Noir - in a way that suggested she knew him better than he would have thought.

/Did I really give that much away? I didn't think so. Is she that perceptive?/ he asked himself, his stylus hovering over an empty page for his notes. They hadn't spent that much time together when he was Chat Noir, yet she spoke as if she'd spent a lot of time in his company. He spent the entire day going over every moment he'd had with Marinette as Chat, desperately attempting to find out what he'd said or done to give so much away. Sure, they'd talked on her balcony once before, but that had only been idle chatter.

An elbow gently prodded his arm, bringing his mind back to the present.

"Dude, what's going on?" Nino asked, careful to keep his voice a whisper so he didn't catch the attention of Ms. Bustier as she taught the rest of the class. "You've been staring at that thing for the last half hour."

A faint nervous blush dusted his cheekbones as he realized he'd been thinking about their classmate the whole time. He lifted a hand to rub his head - a habit that turned against him when he rubbed his still-healing wound. It took everything he had not to cry out and to keep his reaction contained to a wince.

"I guess I just have a lot on my mind," Adrien whispered back. The initial pain was gone, but it still stung.

Nino's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Whether it was from his obvious wound, or the fact that he was clearly hiding /something/, Adrien wasn't sure. All he knew was that he was glad that they were in the middle of class so his friend couldn't interrogate him. The DJ had started to become more clever since he had started dating Alya, and that wouldn't bode well for his secrets.

Returning to his tablet, Adrien did his best to remain focused on what their teacher said. He only half succeeded. When class ended, his notes were sporadic and barely made any sense at best.

"So, you gonna tell me what's up with you?" Nino asked as they left the classroom. There was another practice for the play today, but everyone was taking a break to relax or work on homework before reconvening in the school courtyard. For Adrien, this meant a piano lesson supervised by his bodyguard so that he couldn't slip away.

"What do you mean? Everything's fine," Adrien lied. /Other than my injured head, my broken heart, and now my confusion over Marinette's apparent psychic abilities. So, maybe it's not as fine as it is… something else./

"I've never seen you spaced out like that before. Even when you're working on something else," Nino said. "So, are you gonna tell me?"

"I said that everything's fine," Adrien repeated. "I'm just thinking about the play, is all. We're going through a lot today, aren't we?"

Luckily, his friend gave up. The one thing he hadn't gotten from spending so much time with Alya was the will to follow through with the chase. It was obvious to both of them - and Adrien knew it - that he was lying, but he stopped pushing anyway.

Nino nodded. "Alya wants to try going through the entire play. While you practice they're going to finally start on set building, too. I hope you and Marinette know all of your lines."

"Well, I think that I've got mine down, and Marinette works really hard, so I'm sure she does, too," Adrien reasoned. Despite the fact that she was chronically late like he was, she always seemed so prepared for everything. "I mean, she's the class rep. She has to represent, doesn't she?"

"I guess that's true," Nino laughed. He looked over as Adrien's bodyguard pulled up in a silver car. "Just do well on your piano today, dude. Alya would kill us both if your dad didn't let you come back for the practice."

Adrien held up his fist and bumped it against Nino's. "Don't worry. I'll make sure that I'm at practice. See you soon!" With one last wave, Adrien climbed into the car and drove off. The drive home was fast, but it was enough time for Adrien to slip back into his memory. Except for this time, it wasn't just Marinette that distracted him.

/He's a great partner, and one of my best friends,/

Each word that ran through his thoughts was a sharp pain in his heart. He'd always assumed that he'd made even a small mark with her that was greater than just friendship.

/But I do not love him like that./

To make it all worse, he couldn't even be mad at her. It would be so much /easier/ if he could just be mad at his masked partner. They spent so much time together, and to him, she was the most beautiful person in all of France. No one even held a candle to the way her eyes shown when defending citizens, or the cute way she occasionally laughed at his puns. She didn't do it often, but it was better than the music he had to play when she did.

The car stopped, and Adrien left the vehicle. There was no sign of Nathalie or his father as he went upstairs. His bodyguard followed him into his room shortly after. While Adrien began playing the piano, he stationed himself at the doorway by his basketball hoop.

/He's a great partner,/

He missed a key in his playing.

/And one of my best friends,/

Why couldn't he just be angry? Dealing with all of this pain would be so much easier if he had someone to direct it at other than himself. As much as he wanted her to love him back, she didn't. He couldn't control what she felt, no matter how desperately he wanted it. Any change in their relationship now was on him, not her.

/But I do not love him like that./

The words she used caught his attention this time, making him miss another key. She'd said /like that/, hadn't she? Did that mean… Did that mean that in some way, she did love him? That just meant that, right now, she wasn't /in love/ with him. That was something, wasn't it?

Maybe that meant he still had a chance. Or maybe he was just trying too hard to find a reason it wasn't.

"We're friends. She meant that we're friends," Adrien said under his breath, trying to convince himself of that. The piano music shielded his words from his bodyguard as he whispered them for the rest of his practice.

Adrien returned to school after pouring over the script one last time after playing his piano. Principal Damocles was allowing them to use the courtyard for their practice since Ms. Bustier had agreed to watch and help. The space was bigger, so Alya and Nino could oversee both practice and the set work at the same time.

Everyone else seemed to have arrived by the time Adrien walked into the building. Alya and Nino were rushing about to help everyone who needed it, and Ms. Bustier was talking to Marinette while they both looked over the script.

In the back of the courtyard, Nino set down some supplies for the sets and glanced over to the entrance. He hurried over to greet his friend.

"Glad you made it! I was starting to get worried," Nino joked. "Alya is gonna set all of you up for the run through. Just go on over to Marinette and Ms. Bustier and she'll get you started in a minute."

Before Adrien could comment, Nino had turned to return to the set work. He blinked in shock. Getting such quick and unquestioned commands was normal on his photoshoots, but it was strange coming from his friend. The play must have been putting more stress on him than he had thought it was.

Doing his best to shrug off the strange comparison, he strolled over to where Marinette stood with Ms. Bustier.

"Good evening, Adrien!" Ms. Bustier smiled kindly as the blonde boy arrived. "I'm excited to see how hard all of you have been working on this."

"I think Alya and Nino have been working harder than all of us," Marinette said. "They've been running everything, and all we've had to do is memorize a few lines."

"A few? I don't know about you, but I've got almost half the script," Adrien replied. He held up his copy, flipping the pages to show the multitude of yellow throughout. Most of the lines that weren't highlighted were Marinette's - that he knew for a fact.

Marinette giggled. Immediately, she covered her mouth with a hand and her face turned beet red. The reaction prodded an unexpected reaction of his own, and Adrien found himself laughing. It was a short laugh, and he stifled it very quickly, but after the spinning emotions he'd felt today, it was a relief to feel something so genuinely happy.

"Are you guys ready?" Alya ran up to them. "We don't have all day, so we've got to get started. We're going to use the area in front of the doors as the stage."

All of their classmates who were playing as actors were soon swept up to the makeshift stage that had been marked with tape. While Nino stayed back to help with sets and props, Alya got everyone situated. To start, she stood Adrien on the edge of the stage, and Marinette in the middle.

"Okay, everyone. This is our first full run through, so no stopping. We'll discuss any changes after," Alya said. "Ready? Action!"

Putting all of the confidence he could muster into his walk, Adrien walked over to Marinette. "Hello, Milady," he said.

Marinette looked over at him, pretending to be surprised. "Nice of you to show up, Chat Noir." She folded her arms exactly like Ladybug would - though, Adrien noted, that was not in the script.

Unconsciously choosing to follow her lead, he let his biggest Chat Noir grin spread across his face. Since he still didn't have his prop staff, he draped his arm around his classmate's shoulders instead.

"You know me, I've got to look presentable," he teased, feeling her shoulders tense in surprise. However, she still didn't miss a beat.

"Just don't take so long when there's an actual akuma," she said. She removed his arm from around her shoulders and gave him a sly smile as she flicked the space where his bell should have been.

Adrien laughed - another real laugh. "Of course! I would never abandon you in your time of need." He didn't know what it was, but he felt his defenses dropping as they went. There was something comfortable about pretending to be Chat Noir with Marinette.

They had just defeated Hawk Moth. Chat remained in a sitting/crouched position to one side of the stage, where 'Hawk Moth' had been about to grab his Miraculous a moment before. He stared down at his hand, where the fake villains necklace Miraculous rested.

Ladybug pretended to restrain Kim, then walked over to him.

"Are you okay, Chat Noir?"

For a minute, he didn't answer. He slowly stood up, then looked down into the worried bluebell eyes in front of him. At that moment, there was a connection between them. Something that made the small distance between them undeniably evident. "I just can't believe we finally got him. There aren't going to be anymore akumas."

The blunette looked at his hand in shock. "I guess not," she breathed.

A silence surrounded them. It was so heavy that he almost didn't say anything. "So, no more supervillains in Paris. They're not going to need superheroes anymore, will they?" he said.

"That's not true, Chat," Ladybug argued, shaking her head. "Just because we defeated Hawk Moth doesn't mean that we're not still needed. We've helped with other crimes all the time. Those ones aren't going to go away."

He looked over at Kim and nodded. "Yeah. Hawk Moth wasn't the only evil out there." Chat grinned, looking down at Ladybug again. "But I guess our job did just get a whole lot easier."

She laughed in response. "Considering we're the only ones with powers now, I have to agree. Now, let's take care of Hawk Moth once and for all."

Closing his hand around the necklace, he tucked it into a pocket. Together, they approached Kim and each grabbed one of his arms as he stood up. They walked off the pretend stage and applause immediately erupted all around them.

Adrien shook his head, stunned. Everyone in the courtyard was on their feet and clapping enthusiastically. It took a moment for him to register what had just happened. The run through had gone well. Too well. Without realizing, he had become so comfortable in the situation that he had easily slipped into the mindset of Chat Noir - so much so that he had actually been thinking of Marinette as Ladybug.

How had he made such a crucial mistake?

Marinette gulped as the applause started. What had just happened? /What had just happened?!/

She'd come to this practice braced for an evening of trying not to be too Ladybug-like, but all of her efforts had been obliterated when Adrien had released that laugh. His natural laugh happened so rarely around her, and the sound of it absolutely dissolved all the effort she had put into preparing herself.

Then they'd started practice, and Adrien had just… oozed Chat Noir. Her instinct of being the superheroine had bled through without her realizing it. She'd gotten so invested in the play, that it felt almost like she really had spent the afternoon with her partner. By the end, it was as if there was more of an attraction between them than they ever had before. More, even, than she normally had with Chat Noir when she actually was Ladybug.

"That was amazing!" Alysa exclaimed, running up to them. Her face was lit up like the sun, eyes shining as she looked between the two of them. Everyone else in the class surrounded them as well, everyone complimenting their performance in some way.

"Did you guys practice together without us?" Nino asked when everyone eventually dispersed. "You had some real chemistry for this practice."

"Especially with that last scene!" Alya added, winking at Marinette discreetly. Her worry turned to embarrassment in a heartbeat.

"I-it couldn't have been that great," Marinette stammered, casting a shy glance at Adrien. For once, he seemed just as awkward and stressed as she felt. Had he felt what she felt? Had the chemistry really not just been in her head?

Alya shook her head. "Girl, you're crazy. The two of you did great!"

An obnoxious scoff sounded to Marinette's left. The small group glanced over to see Chloe standing with her arms folded. Sabrina was behind her, copying her look of contempt. Marinette felt the blonde girl's eyes look her up and down, undoubtedly finding everything about her appearance that she deemed as flawed.

"You guys really think that was actually good? Did you actually watch it? Me and Adrien were fantastic, obviously, but her? She wouldn't know how to act like Ladybug if Ladybug came and taught her."

"Don't even, Chloe. Marinette makes a great Ladybug. You're not going to get her part, so just keep your opinions to yourself," Alya argued.

Chloe opened her mouth to protest, but Ms. Bustier spoke first. The teacher had been talking to the other students, but had approached when she saw the tension in the small group.

"Now is not the time to fight. You just had a very successful evening, let's not ruin it by saying something you'll regret," she said, stepping between Chloe and Alya. Ms. Bustier looked between Chloe, Adrien, and Marinette meaningfully. "You guys did very well. I suggest we all go home and celebrate a job well done."


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Heartstrings

**Chapter Thirteen: Heartstrings**

Two days later, Marinette was starting to come down from her high. Sure, Chloe had been a brat at the end of practice, but after she had spent quite a bit of time freaking out with Alya over what had happened between her and Adrien. That excitement had lasted through the weekend, but on Sunday night her anxiety began to set in.

There had definitely been some sort of moment between her and Adrien. Or at least, she thought so. What if he hadn't seen it that way? What if, as a model, he was just that good of an actor? Was the entire thing in her head?

 _No. Alya swore that something happened! Alya's an expert with these things!_ she thought, desperately trying to convince herself that Adrien would have felt it too.

She finally made herself believe it would all be okay and drifted into an uncertain sleep. Monday morning, she sat up straight in her bed, racked with stress.

"Oh no, what if he felt it too?! What am I gonna do?!" she whined desperately, hiding her face in her hands morbidly. It was hard enough for her to talk to him as it was, but if something had actually happened, it would be ten times worse. No, a _hundred_ times worse. As soon as she saw him, she would die for sure. Either she would be alone in that feeling and be mortified, or they both would have and she would never be able to speak to him again.

Luckily, when she got to school he hadn't arrived yet. Alya had, however. The blogger ran up to Marinette the second she saw her, grabbing her shoulders and looking her right in the eyes.

"Girl, have you read the comments on your video?" she demanded, not bothering with small talk.

Startled, Marinette shook her head. "I haven't had the chance. Why?" she asked.

"I'm so sorry, Marinette. When I put the video up, I didn't think about what everyone would think. But, well… Everyone seems to think that you're actually _dating_ Chat Noir," Alya said, removing her hands from the bluenette's shoulders.

Marinette's eyes widened, becoming the size of her parent's cookies. " _WHAT?!_ " she exclaimed, all worry about Adrien instantly replaced with worry about Chat Noir. Not only was she thinking of the obvious lie that everyone would now believe about him, but all of her feelings from what had happened between him and Ladybug surfaced as well.

"Seriously, I had no idea this would happen. I guess the way you talked about him made people think that you liked him, and it spiraled from there. The article on the Ladyblog has been spammed with questions about you two all weekend," Alya said. "I thought for sure it would calm down, so I didn't bug you, but it hasn't and… I'm sorry."

"S-so everyone thinks that I'm dating him? But how? Why-" Marinette stopped mid-sentence, her eyes falling on the blonde getting out of the silver car not too far away. Her voice rose at least three octaves when her next sentence came out.

"Do you think Adrien thinks that?!"

Adrien stepped out of the car tremendously confused - as he had been most of the past two days. He still felt pain about what happened with Ladybug, then everything with Marinette had occurred. A part of him still hoped that he could get his superhero partner to change her mind, and yet he found his mind constantly stuck on what had happened during the practice for the play, and what Marinette had said about Chat Noir during her interview.

Then, he had decided to look at the Ladyblog interview once again and had seen the comments. Finding out people assumed that he was dating Marinette added an even deeper sense of confusion to his emotions.

When he arrived at school that day, none of it was any better. If anything, they were far more jumbled. If he was lucky, maybe he wouldn't have much of an opportunity to talk to Marinette. Except he'd never found that he was that lucky.

Sure enough, when he greeted Nino he was reminded of something that would obliterate his plan.

"Dude, please tell me that you can come to our study group today," the DJ said as soon as their hellos were done. "Mendeleiev sent an email last night about a last minute quiz, and I am in no way prepared. I'm sure the girls would love your help as well. Marinette was probably too distracted to study this weekend anyway."

That caught his attention. "I guess I can come, I mean - wait, why would she be too distracted to study?" Adrien asked, feeling excitement and tension he knew he shouldn't be feeling. It was just Marinette. She was a designer and had worked for Jagged Stone, it had to be that she was doing something important like that. A mere play practice with Adrien couldn't be enough to distract her for so long.

Nino paused awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "Uh, n-nothing bro. I heard her folks were doing some catering thing today. She was probably just helping out with that?" he suggested.

Disappointment flickered inside of Adrien, but he did his best to hide it. "Oh, okay. If you guys really need the help to study for the test, I guess I can come. I wouldn't want you guys to fail or anything," Adrien said. He started walking towards the school with Nino, who breathed a massive sigh of relief.

"Thanks a ton, dude. You probably just saved my bacon," he said, walking beside him. The DJ lifted his hand and waved before they reached the stairs. Adrien looked over to where he waved, seeing Alya and Marinette talking. His eyes caught her's, and for a moment, he felt his feet stop moving.

Both of their cheeks turned red, and he hurriedly looked away and kept walking after Nino. He did his best to avoid looking at her through the first part of school, but when they were told to split up for the library he couldn't prevent it anymore.

"Are you guys ready to study?" he asked, turning to his three friends as they walked to the library. His eyes flicked briefly to Marinette's before he quickly adjusted so he was primarily looking at Nino. He could see a puzzled look spread over Alya's face from the corner of his eyes. That definitely wouldn't help the situation. She was smart, and he didn't know of anyone else that could be so persistent when she found a story.

They found a table in the library and pulled out their books and their tablets for their notes. For a while, they just read and consulted with each other, pouring through everything they could about the test subject.

"So, Adrien," Alya finally said, looking up from her book. "You really learned all of this stuff from your tutors before you started school?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Adrien said, temporarily pausing from showing Nino how to find the answer to one of the homework problems. "Father always made sure that I had the best teachers he could find, so I learned a lot of the basics for this stuff. He even tried to get me to continue meeting with them after I started here."

Alya frowned, seeming to officially give up on the pretense of studying. "Why would he do that? This is one of the best schools in the area," she said.

Shrugging, Adrien leaned back in his chair. "I think he was just hoping that if I kept the tutors they would eventually convince me to go back to being taught at home, where he can keep an eye on me."

The blogger clearly wasn't done with her questions, but before she could say any more Max approached their table with a large notebook.

"Excuse me. I hate to interrupt a study session, but I was looking over our plans for the play, and I believe that we need to make several adjustments. The sooner that we can work out the changes the better," he said, looking between Alya and Nino.

Closing her book, Alya started to pack her tablet back into her bag and pull out her notebook for her play notes. "We can do it now, can't we Nino?" Her eyes flickered between Adrien and Marinette, making both kids blush and pointedly avoid looking at one another. It would be an interesting study session if the other two left.

"I'm still helping Nino study," Adrien said, hoping he'd found a solution. "Is there any way you can deal with it yourself, Alya?"

Unfortunately, Nino shook his head and followed Alya's lead in putting his stuff into his backpack. "I was the one working on all the sets the other day, so I'm going to have to weigh in. Thanks for the help, dude. You seriously saved me with this test." He lifted a hand and the two friends bumped fists.

"You can always keep helping Marinette, right? I'm sure she still needs help," Alya suggested. Neither of them could disagree before Alya and Nino had disappeared with Max to talk about the play, leaving Adrien and Marinette sitting together at the table.

Doing his best to recover from the shock, Adrien finally turned his full attention to his blue-haired classmate. He summoned every ounce of the model he was that he could muster and smiled at her, trying to ignore the hurricane of feelings that swarmed inside of him. She looked just as bewildered as he felt, except she wasn't as good at hiding it. Her cheeks turned as red as Nathaniel's hair when she realized that he was looking at her.

"S-so, I-I guess we're alone studying?" she stammered out.

Adrien pushed all of his stuff to the other side of the table, standing up and sitting where Alya had just been so he was next to her. "Seems like it. Is there anything specific that you want to study? Nino said that your family was busy this weekend, so you may not have been able to study as much as everyone else."

For a moment she seemed confused, almost scared. Then, understanding dawned on her face. "Oh! Yeah, my parents are catering for a party at the TV station tonight, so they've been working out what to serve."

"That sounds amazing," Adrien said. "I bet your house always smells of croissants and pie. That must be great."

She giggled slightly, covering her mouth as she did so. "It's definitely not a bad thing. Though it can be pretty distracted when I'm trying to study and I can smell my dad baking downstairs. What about you? You've got a personal chef, right? I'm sure your house always smells pretty good, too."

He shrugged. "Not really. The kitchen is pretty segregated from the rest of the house, so the smell doesn't really carry. My father's really insistent that he doesn't have any distractions while he's working, you know? He'll even have food taken to his office if he's too busy."

Marinette seemed to be in awe of his words as if mentioning his father's habit of not eating with his son was some treasure trove of information. "So your father really does all of his work at home? I know that he never really goes out in public, but I always assumed that he would spend some time at _Gabriel_ headquarters every once in a while."

 _So that's it. She heard me mention his work,_ Adrien thought.

"If he has business there he typically sends his assistant, Nathalie. Other than that, he just talks to them over phone calls. He really doesn't leave his office that much at all, especially lately," he said. That seemed to take Marinette's mind off of the company. The way her face softened in surprise showed him that he'd let his model attitude slip, letting the real sadness he felt over the situation bleed through.

Slowly, hesitantly, Marinette reached a hand forward and touched his arm. Just like she had when comforting him after receiving the news about Christmas. "He really doesn't come out of his office?" she asked quietly.

The bell rang around them, signaling all of the students to move on to their next class. Both teens looked up when it did, stunned. "That's our cue," Adrien said, avoiding answering her question. Talking about exactly how much of a recluse his father had become hadn't been on Nathalie's schedule for the day, and he didn't particularly feel like adding it to the list.

Marinette, however, had other ideas. She shook her head, folding her arms determinedly as Adrien closed his textbook. "We still have a few minutes before we need to be in Mendeleiev's class. If there's something you need to talk about, I want to help."

Students around them trailed for the door, but for some reason, Adrien couldn't make himself join them.

"My father… He's always very focused on his work," he finally said. He looked down at his hands, fiddling with his ring as he spoke. "I mean, I'm used to him being reserved like this, I just feel like lately it's been worse. I want to say there's something he's not telling me, but I already know that he doesn't tell me a lot. He just tells me what to do, and expects me to listen."

Adrien was surprised by the touch of bitterness in his own voice. He'd never really spoken to anyone about this before other than Plagg - and the kwami's comfort only went so far.

The two sat in silence for a moment, Adrien keeping his eyes firmly placed downward as he felt Marinette's shocked gaze boring into him. He didn't know what kind of reaction he'd been expecting, but when she suddenly wrapped her arms around him, he couldn't help but widen his eyes in astonishment.

Once the reality of her way to comfort him sunk in, he placed his arms around her as well, closing his eyes. A real hug - more than just Chloe clinging to him - was not something that he received often since his mother had disappeared. It felt nice. The hug lasted for several minutes. In fact, it might have gone on longer if a thought hadn't occurred to him.

His eyes snapped open, and they separated from their hug. "Marinette, we missed the bell!" he said, already up and shoving his stuff back into his bag. A small squeak escaped Marinette's lips that sounded vaguely like "I can't be late again!" and she grabbed all of her stuff. Neither said a word about the hug as they raced out of the library and to their next class.

Adrien burst into Mendeleiev's classroom, Marinette right behind him. All eyes turned to look at them - including their science teacher who was partway through handing out their test.

"You're late," she scolded. "Sit down and take your test, and expect a call to your parents about your tardiness later."

At the end of the school day, all of the students made their way out of the class. Marinette, however, was stopped by her best friend demanding to know why she'd been late. Doing her best to avoid answering, she mumbled something about getting lost in studying. As much as she was dying to tell her friend about what had happened between her and Adrien, she couldn't betray the fact that he'd trusted her with something really personal.

"Come on, girl, you have to tell me!" Alya begged.

Marinette shook her head. "I-I told you, we got too caught up in studying and missed the bells," she said weakly. Her friend shook her head in disbelief, but gave up on trying. It wouldn't last forever, but it would be enough time for Marinette to process what had happened, and come up with a plausible lie.

"Will you at least wait for me while I use the restroom?" Alya asked as they left the classroom. Laughing, Marinette nodded.

"I'll be at the bottom of the stairs." She started to walk down while Alya went in a different direction, but paused when she heard voices below her. It sounded like Alix talking with Rose and Juleka.

"You'll never believe what I heard!" Alix said excitedly. "I overheard Nino talking to someone on the phone earlier. Apparently, he went to visit Adrien at home and he was reading some sort of love letter with a lovey-dovey expression. I think that Adrien might actually have a girlfriend!"

She felt weak. Adrien had a girlfriend? He was reading a love letter? How could that be possible? Did that mean that everything that had happened had actually just been in her head?

"What are we going to tell Marinette?" Juleka asked, her voice so quiet Marinette could only barely understand what she said.

Rose was the next one to speak, her voice upbeat and happy like normal. "You guys haven't heard? All signs point to Marinette dating Chat Noir! I don't think that Adrien dating someone is going to be a big deal anymore!"

Unable to sit and listen to anymore, Marinette went down the rest of the stairs as fast as possible before leaving the school. She pulled out her phone and sent Alya a quick text saying that she forgot she had to help her parents, and rushed home as fast as she could.

When she walked inside, she was so distracted that she almost didn't notice her dad standing at the door that connected the bakery to the house.

"Marinette?" he said as she approached, bringing her attention to him.

"Yes, Papa?" she asked, stopping in front of him. Just seeing the stern look on his face put a pit in her stomach the size of the Grand Canyon. Her mother came out of the bakery before he answered, a similar expression on her own face.

Her dad gestured in the direction of the school. "We got a phone call from one of your teachers today, Marinette. She said that you were late to class again - and on a test day. This is apparently the second time in the past week, and your teacher is losing her patience with you on this, honey."

"Is everything okay?" her mom chimed in. "You seem to be late or absent a lot in the past year."

"Uh, everything's fine!" Marinette said, scratching the top of her head. Memories of all the times she had been late due to saving Paris in the past year flashed through her mind, temporarily shoving her feelings to the back of her mind. She couldn't tell them about why she was always late, and she _definitely_ couldn't tell them she'd been late today because of Adrien. "You guys know me, I'm just really bad at keeping track of time! I was studying today, and I didn't notice the sound of the bell."

After sharing a look with her mom, her dad spoke again. "You really need to work on this, Marinette. You can't keep being late to everything like this."

Marinette shook her head resolutely. "I won't be! I swear that I'll work on it," she said, looking between her parents.

"We believe you, sweetie," her mom said with a gentle smile. "Why don't you go upstairs and work on some of your homework? Your father and I can get everything to the TV station. Just meet us there to set everything up, okay?"

"I will! Thank you, guys. I promise that I won't be late!" she said, giving them both hugs before running up to her room.

Once she was up in her room, Tikki flew out of her small bag. The kwami gave her a knowing look as Marinette pulled out the assigned homework for the day. Trying to ignore the conversation that plagued her mind, the designer sat at her desk and attempted to work. That ended up being her staring at the page while her mind kept wandering back to Adrien.

He'd seemed so… sad earlier. Even when he'd spoken to her before Christmas break, he hadn't looked like that. This had been the face of someone whose heart had been broken by his father. Then she'd hugged him, and her brain had almost shut down. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined hugging him like that in the middle of the library. But, to break down all of her hopes, she found out that he had a girlfriend.

"You haven't touched that pencil to the page once, Marinette. You haven't even written your name," Tikki said, floating over to hover above the paper.

Groaning, Marinette dropped the paper. "I know, Tikki! I just can't focus after what happened today! I mean, I actually hugged Adrien! I hugged him, Tikki!" she said excitedly. Unable to sit still any longer, she got out of her seat and climbed up through the hatch on her balcony.

She paced around, her arms moving erratically as she continued speaking. "He just looked so beaten down, it was all I could think to do. Then, he hugged me back! Then what Alix said… he's dating someone? So I imagined everything?! What am I going to do? I'd ask Alya, but I can't exactly tell her about what happened, can I?"

"And what exactly happened today, Princess?" a voice purred behind her. In her rush of talking, Marinette hadn't noticed Tikki zip into her jacket to hide. Turning around slowly, she saw a grinning Chat Noir leaning back against the railing on her balcony.

"Uh, um, n-nothing!" she exclaimed, using more volume than was necessary. Doing her best to recover, she added, "A-at least nothing that would concern you, Chat Noir."

He chuckled in response, walking over to the chair she had out, sprawling over it. "I suppose that could be true. It depends on if we listen to the rumors from the Ladyblog that we're apparently boyfriend and girlfriend."

In that moment, it felt like she could actually roll her eyes enough to roll them out of her head. Only he would bring up the one thing that was the smallest thing on her mind right now. "Except that we're not dating, Chat."

Chat shrugged, crossing his legs and putting both of his hands behind his head. "No, but we should probably do something about the fact that everyone seems to think we are. I mean, you can't have everyone think you're dating a superhero you've only met a couple times, right? Especially if it would ruin any chances with any guy that you actually know."

The sly look Chat gave her confused Marinette, but she decided to ignore it. Not wanting to think on her own problems anymore, she decided to ignore his entire sentence as well. "And you can't have people thinking you're taken or you'll ruin your chances with Ladybug, right?" she said jokingly. The second that the words came out of her mouth, she regretted it. His face fell immediately, and he cast his eyes downward. It appeared that nothing had gotten better for him since the incident with Nemesis.

"Ladybug isn't going to care if I'm dating anyone. We're just friends," he said.

Marinette took a few steps forward, all thought of Adrien suddenly gone. She knelt down next to him, placing her hand on his. "You and Ladybug are more than just friends, Chat Noir. The two of you have a connection that no one else has - you have superpowers. You save Paris together every week. There's more between you than you think."

Chat shrugged, but the corners of his mouth raised in a smile. "I guess so," he said.

"I know so," Marinette said. The smile on his face started a warm glow deep inside her, soothing away some of the nerves she'd been dealing with the past few days. "I've seen you guys together, and you're just so natural in how you talk to each other. You guys look so comfortable working together."

Marinette shifted, sitting on the floor of the balcony next to where Chat sat. For a minute they just sat, both contemplating the relationship between Ladybug and Chat Noir. Looking up at the sky, Marinette remembered all of the times that she had been saved by her partner. All the times that she had joked with him while fighting an akuma.

The sun began to sink low in the sky, and the light blue started to fade into a spectrum of oranges and yellows. They chatted idly while they watched the color change, both of them still lost in thought over their relationship. As time went by, Marinette felt her eyelids begin to feel heavy. Her responses to their conversation took longer to form, and eventually they were barely audible. Feeling the exhaustion of the stress from the past few days begin to catch up to her, she finally couldn't resist the urge to lay her head down. What bad could a few seconds do, anyway?

"Marinette?" someone asked, gently shaking her.

Her eyes opened slowly at the movement. Then, she jerked awake, standing up in less than a second. Arms gripping her head in panic, she turned and hurried toward the hatch on her balcony.

"I forgot about the party!" she groaned, her voice somehow also high pitched and nervous. "I'm so sorry, Chat Noir! I have to go!"

"Sorry to make you late. I'll check in on her later if you're feline up for it," Chat said as he stood up. Marinette didn't even process the joke, just gave him a quick wave and a panicked smile before vanishing into her room below.

Marinette heard a small knock on the hatch to her balcony. She sighed, going up to see who it was - Chat had promised to come back, anyway. He was standing next to the entrance as she emerged.

"How'd things go?" he asked. The open trap door to her room bathed him in light, making his green eyes glow in the near-darkness. He looked at her with concern.

Shrugging, Marinette went and sat on the chair. "They didn't seem mad, just… disappointed. My dad didn't even scold me or anything. They just told me to come home and wait in my room. I can't believe I messed up like that! I'm so stupid."

"I'm sure everything will be okay," Chat said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Your father seems nice. He can't be upset with you forever, right?"

Marinette gave a small smile. "Thanks, but I'm not sure. I've never seen them look so disappointed in me. I just don't know what I can do make it up to them. There's nothing I can say that would explain why I was so late. Do you have any ideas? Because I've been thinking about it since I got back, and I can't think of a thing."

Chat removed his hand from her shoulder. "It's my fault you're in this situation. I shouldn't have come to bug you tonight. Or I should have l-"

Someone from down in her room interrupted whatever he was going to say. It almost sounded like her father, but there was something… off about the way he spoke, along with what he said. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng! Come down here and I'll make sure you'll never be late again!"


	14. Chapter Fourteen: The Caterer

**Author's Note: Thank you so much to every single one of my readers. I have not been great at keeping up with posting, so thank you so so much to anybody who is still reading. You have no idea how much it means, especially with how life has kicked me in the gut lately. My friend asked for more of this for Christmas, so I managed to write another chapter. Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to everybody out there reading! You guys are amazing, and I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter Fourteen: The Caterer**

Chat Noir looked over at the open hatch, his instincts telling him that something was wrong. Marinette crouched down, about to poke her head into her room to see what was going on. Eyes widening, he put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. She looked up at him, confused, and he shook his head while holding a black-clad finger to his lips.

Understanding dawned on her face, and she slowly rose from her crouch, backing away from the opening as quietly as she could. He motioned her toward the edge of the balcony, trying to get her as far from harm as he could for the moment.

"Marinette, where are you?" the voice called. Chat recognized it as Tom Dupain, only his voice sounded more sinister than usual. Hearing what had happened with Marinette, the hero had a feeling he knew why.

 _This is not good. Her father is the nicest person. I can't even imagine him akumatized!_ he thought.

Getting down onto the floor of the balcony, Chat looked down into Marinette's bedroom. It wasn't hard for him to locate the dark akuma amongst the pink of his friend's room. Her father had bluish skin and dark purple eyes instead of his usual green. A black suit sat underneath a pure white apron with the olive leaves for the bakery's symbol resting on it in purple. Malice filled his unfamiliar gaze, and a silver platter in his hand suddenly filled with croissants.

"Hello, Chat Noir, is my daughter with you?" he asked, simmering purple eyes meeting glimmering green ones. The akuma grabbed one of the croissants off the platter. "Let's see how you both fair against these."

Before he could do anything, he threw a croissant at the balcony entrance. Luckily for Chat, the aim was off and it tore through the ceiling next to him.

Scrambling backward, Chat stared at the chunk of ceiling and floor that had been forcefully removed by a croissant. He gulped and stood up, grabbing Marinette's hand. "I think we've got a problem. Are you prepared to see a little bit more of Paris?"

"Uh, y-yeah! Let's go!" Marinette stammered, her eyes glued to the way back to her bedroom.

Chat grabbed her bridal-style and leaped off of the rooftop at the same moment that the floor beneath them exploded. He didn't need to look back to know that the akumatized version of Mr. Dupain had just come through. The most important priority was to get Marinette to safety. Hopefully, Ladybug would show up soon and distract him while he found somewhere she could stay until it was all over. For now, Chat continued to run down the street. Step one would be putting as much distance between them as possible.

"Marinette! I need help setting up the catering, why don't you come back and help?" he called, his normally cheery voice sounding sinister. It was also remarkably close.

Risking a glance backward, Chat Noir saw the Caterer on top of the platter he'd been holding. It had somehow become his mode of transformation, soaring through the streets behind them. The hero gritted his teeth and pushed himself to run faster.

"Catering does not mix well with your father, Marinette. I recommend being more careful in the future," he said, unable to keep the stress from his voice. His eyes flicked around them as they went, desperately trying to think of somewhere to go. Then, he saw the apartment building their friend Nathaniel lived, and he got an idea. "I've got it! Hold on tight!"

Switching his hold on her so he only had one hand wrapped tightly around her waist, he grabbed his staff.

"Wait, what are you - Aahh!" Marinette's question was cut off as he pressed a button to shoot them into the air. Her grip hardened. If his suit didn't prevent it, he was sure that her fingernails would have been digging into his neck. A croissant flew past them as they landed on a roof, breaking through the tiles a way to their right.

Chat didn't waste any time in jumping again, his focus on their next location instead of the akuma behind them. That turned out to be a mistake when the roof they landed on blew up, fire and all. He didn't have time to move out of the way, but, with eyes closed, he shielded his friend from the blast. Excruciating heat raked across his back, and something hard - likely a piece of the building - hit his shoulder.

A grunt was all he let escape his lips when it was gone, though it certainly didn't escape his attention that his back was still in pain. Ignoring it, he looked down at the girl huddled in his arms. "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly. If that had been able to hurt him, then...

"I'm good," she croaked nervously, slowly taking a step away from him. She looked him up and down and frowned. Before Chat could ask why his attention was drawn to the person that had caught up with them.

Moving so he stood between Marinette and her father, he heard her gasp.

"Give me my daughter and maybe I won't burn you to a crisp," the Caterer said, bouncing a red macaron in his hand. Rock hard croissants and explosive macarons. They'd have to be extra careful in this fight.

The cat-like hero shrugged, causing him to wince when pain radiated from his back. "Marinette is a little busy right now, but if you just hand over that tray, I can help you," he said.

Behind him, he heard Marinette take a few steps. He glanced back, still armed with his staff. The girl was backing away, holding one side of her jacket open just a bit. She stopped when she saw him looking at her, letting her jacket fall closed. He glanced back at the akuma, thoughts racing.

 _Where's Ladybug? I need to get Marinette to the Louvre, but he's too close. What's taking her so long?_ he thought desperately. _Okay, Adrien, prioritize. Take care of Marinette first. Just get her to safety whatever the cost._

He continued to face the Caterer, backing up so he was standing right next to her. "Grab on again. I've got an idea on where you can hide, but we're going to have to go fast if we want to lose him for long enough."

"B-but Chat, your back…"

Stealing a look backward at his back, Chat Noir cringed. Parts of his suit were completely burned away, and red, marred flesh resided underneath. A small amount of blood trickled from several spots, including a cut where he'd been hit in the shoulder. "That doesn't matter. Just grab on and I'll get both of us out of here."

Hesitant at first, Marinette wrapped her arms around him. Chat tensed, but didn't make a sound as he dodged a macaron. Luckily, they got out of the way in time and the most they felt was some heat. Her father screamed in rage behind them. The sound of talking told Chat Noir that Hawk Moth was talking to him, probably telling him some other tactic to get to them.

They hurried around the city, the Caterer following them wherever they went. As they made progress, the akuma would throw some of the things he held, causing chaos and distress to the Parisians below. Every time he broke through a building, or he used a macaron to cause some explosion, Chat looked around for Ladybug. She should have shown up by now, but Chat knew that he couldn't give up on his objectives. First, get to the Louvre and hide Marinette in the sarcophagus. Then, get the akuma from the silver platter the akuma held.

Finally, they dropped down into an alleyway when the Caterer had his head turned. Chat grabbed her and they forced themselves as far into the corner as possible, eliciting a small hiss from Chat when he put his burns against the dirty wall. The Caterer passed overhead and they both sighed.

"I'm not sure how long that bought us, so we have to run," Chat said. Marinette nodded, looking above them worriedly. Chat ignored the look, assuming she was just worried about having an akuma after her. He grabbed her hand and they started running through the streets, hoping to draw less attention this way. It worked. When they arrived at the Louvre, no one had spotted them, and they got inside easily.

"Where are we going?" Marinette asked him as they went in, running through the museum.

"Ladybug hid somebody in here once, and I think we can use that hiding spot again. The Caterer shouldn't be able to find you from there, and I can keep him distracted until Ladybug can show up to cleanse the akuma," Chat said, going straight for the Egyptian exhibit.

Marinette ran just behind Chat Noir. If it wasn't for his hand around her wrist, she wasn't sure if she would have been able to keep up with him - and it wasn't all because he had the bonus endurance from his transformation. With her vantage, it was hard for her eyes to not be drawn to his back. _How is it possible? We've been through worse, and he was always fine!_

This was just further evidence that something was wrong. With each akuma, they were sustaining injuries, and hers were starting to stick around. She could only imagine that it was the same for Chat Noir, who was getting the worst of the injuries.

She barely prevented herself from colliding with him when he suddenly stopped. Noticing just in time, she dodged to the side so she stopped next to him instead of crashing into his back. Glancing at where they were, Marinette's mouth gaped open in shock.

"You're putting me in the _sarcophagus?_ " she asked, remembering when they were fighting Riposte and she had chosen to hide Adrien inside. If he hadn't left, it would not have ended well for the model.

Chat Noir nodded, going over to open the coffin for her. "It's the best place. You should be safe, even if the fight somehow ends up inside the Louvre."

Unsure, Marinette stepped into the small space. "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure that short of taking you out of Paris entirely, this is the best place for you. I'll come to get you once Ladybug and I can get the akuma. I'll see you soon, Princess!" He grinned at her, winking before replacing the lid and leaving her in darkness.

Marinette groaned. "He's going to get himself killed out there! Tikki, Spots On!"

Waiting just a moment to ensure he was no longer in the exhibit, Ladybug burst from the sarcophagus and started running immediately. Something told her that, with his bad luck, Chat would manage to find the Caterer very quickly. She was right.

Her partner flew through the air as soon as she left the Louvre, landing with a resounding _thunk_ on the ground next to her.

"Chat Noir!" she shouted, kneeling at his side to see if he was okay. His eyelids fluttered open and he groaned. Trying to push himself up, that groan turned into a shout when he put weight on his left arm.

Ladybug looked up at the Caterer, who was walking toward them smugly. "Stay here, Chat. You may have broken something, and there's no way that you can fight like that. You'll just end up more hurt, and if you get hurt, I… Just stay here."

All she had time to notice before she ran off was his widened eyes. A small "wait!" sounded behind her, but she ignored it. _Deal with the akuma first. Whatever just happened can come later._

"About time, Ladybug," her father cackled. He held the tray in his hands, and it suddenly filled with croissants. "Would you like something to eat before I take your Miraculous?"

"Give me the tray and we can talk about it," she said, not realizing it was almost exactly like what Chat Noir had said earlier. She grabbed her yo-yo in preparation for the coming right. Getting the tray as soon as possible would be the best option - with his powers, she would not survive a drawn-out fight.

The Caterer grabbed a croissant and threw it. Ladybug dodged just in time and it took a chunk out of the cement behind her. She cursed, trying to run so she could face his back. Another croissant prevented her from doing so when it landed directly in her path.

"Not so fast. You won't get rid of me that easily," he said.

 _I've got to get him now or I'll be in just as bad a state as Chat._ She threw her yo-yo in the air. "Lucky Charm!"

A badminton racket fell into her hands, painted completely red with spots of black. For a moment she stared in shock, then she looked around to get an idea. What she came up with was not at all comforting, but it was all she could think of.

Holding her ground, she waited for the Caterer to make his move. The next time a croissant soared toward her, she tightened her grip on the racket. Gulping, she swung. It hit her shoulder and she gasped, pain shooting out from the point of contact.

Gritting her teeth, she armed herself again. There was no time to worry about what happened to her shoulder. She had to save her father - and the rest of Paris - before it was too late.

The akuma growled, throwing another croissant. It barely held together, but the croissant changed direction and went back to the akuma. She swung the racket again, hoping that this time it would hit. Luckily, it connected. The racket barely held together, but the croissant reversed direction.

As he stood there, stunned, Ladybug started running toward the Caterer. There was a _smack_ and he fell back, the tray clattering to the ground.

Ladybug grabbed it with her good arm and ripped it in two. A purple akuma flew out. Sighing, Ladybug cleansed it with ease.

Then, she threw the racket into the air. "Miraculous Ladybug!" she called, relieved when a little bit of her pain left. Not all of it did, though. And speaking of pain…

"Chat!" She raced back to the Louvre, where her partner had somehow managed to sit up. When she got over to him, he was leaning against the wall and panting. He cradled his left arm.

She knelt down next to him worriedly, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. "How's your back? Are you okay?"

He chuckled lightly, wincing when he moved his arm. Despite that, he smiled. "My back feels better, but I'm pretty sure that I did break my arm. At least a fracture."

A large sigh of relief escaped her. "Thank goodness. You were in really bad shape, and with the way things have been going… I was so worried that you would be in serious danger. You're the best partner I could have asked for, Chat. You know that, right?"

"And you're the best I could ask for, Milady," Chat said. He leaned forward, supporting himself with his good arm. The smile on his face made her smile as well and, before she knew it, their faces were slowly moving closer to each other.

 _Am I really about to kiss Chat Noir?_ Ladybug thought, startled by the sudden action. _What about Adrien? No… Adrien's got his secret girlfriend, doesn't he?_ They got closer and closer, and Ladybug felt her cheeks flushing.

 _Chat has been really nice, though. He seemed genuinely so worried about me when I was a civilian. Even the people in Paris would get excited if we started dating. But… I can't do this. This wouldn't really about Chat Noir, would it?_

Ladybug pulled backward, looking down at the ground. "I'm sorry, Chat, but… I'm not in the same place you are. Just worry about getting home. I saw you take that girl into the museum, so I'll take care of her." She tried to avoid looking at him, but she couldn't.

The look on his face mainly showed anger, but it was laced with disappointment.

"Thanks," he said tersely. The way he spoke, she couldn't tell if he was more upset with her, or himself. She wasn't sure which she would have preferred. "I'm sorry, too. You've clearly rejected me enough, I think I finally get the message. I'll see you next patrol."

He struggled to his feet, ignoring the hand she offered him, then ran and jumped into a nearby roof.


	15. Chapter Fifteen: Consequences

**Author's Note: Happy New Year! I hope you guys all have an amazing 2019, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter Fifteen: Consequences**

Hawk Moth slammed his cane into the floor in frustration. "I almost had both of them! Chat Noir was out of commission, and Ladybug herself was hurt! How did I still not get their Miraculouses?!" The window in front of him closed and he turned around so his back was to it.

"Dark Wings, Fall," he said bitterly. His transformation fell away, a lavender kwami flying out of the Miraculous on his collar. Nooroo stayed silent while his master paced the room, thinking.

"There has to be a way to exploit them. One that will prevent either of them from fighting! I must get them both out of the way or they will find some way out. That inane Lucky Charm of hers always provides them with a solution, so she must be rendered unable to use it," he said, his hand on his chin while he thought. "They seem to have begun to get injured by my attacks. If that stays true, then that may be my way to get to their Miraculous'."

An evil grin spread over his face and he stopped, a mechanical whir sounding as the section of floor moved downward. "Yes. That will be my way to stop them."

* * *

Marinette transformed back on top of her balcony. She'd taken care of her father, but now all that was left was to deal with her own emotions. Sitting down on her chair, she put her face in her hands. Tikki flew around her nervously, eventually stopping a couple inches from her holder's face.

"Are you okay, Marinette?" she asked.

The girl shook her head, standing up and starting to pace around the small landing to dispel some of her nerves. "Did you see the way he looked at me, Tikki? It was like… Like I'd just ruined his entire life. This is so much more than saying that I only think of him as a friend. We had a moment there, I know we did. But I still rejected him, and in the worst way possible! What do I do?"

"Maybe he's going to calm down on his own? He's dealt with a lot, but he's strong. Chat Noir will be able to get through this on his own," Tikki said, staying positive even though a bit of worry crept into her voice.

The girl took a deep breath to calm her thoughts before looking at her friend. She did her best to fight all of the horrible ideas racing through her head. "What is it?"

Wringing her small hands together, Tikki's large eyes met Marinette's. "I'm actually worried that there may be more going on than just a fight. I've never seen a Ladybug and a Chat Noir get hurt like you two are. It happened sometimes, but whatever causes it always worked out naturally. With you two, that doesn't seem to be happening. I think… I think that you need to tell Master Fu what's going on. Chat Noir is really hurt after what happened today, and I know that you were injured, too. He'll know what's going on, and maybe what he says will help with what's going on between the two of you as well."

Reaching to her shoulder, Marinette felt the wound there. It wasn't bad, but undoubtedly there would be a massive bruise. She was just lucky that it wasn't bleeding. _Tikki's right, I need to talk to Master Fu about this before I worry about my relationship with Chat Noir._

"Okay, Tikki. I'll go see Master Fu tomorrow," Marinette said. "I just need to not think about Chat Noir or Adrien until then. I can focus on this. Right?"

* * *

It took a while for Adrien to get home. Not only was he down an arm, but he took extra time so he could cool off. Finally, he couldn't stay out any longer. His arm and back hurt, and moving around Paris in his state was only making him more frustrated. He landed in his bedroom, wincing when there was too much force behind it and he ended up barreling onto the floor.

"Claws In," he said through gritted teeth, struggling to stand once more as his transformation fell. Another bit of pain went away as it did, though he knew that he would still be taking time to heal.

Plagg groaned and landed on the arm of the couch, lying down as if he was dead. "You've got to be more careful out there. You may be taking most of the damage, but I still get hurt, you know!" he whined, giving Adrien a sidelong glance. Despite the fact that Adrien knew it was supposed to lighten the mood, he shot the kwami a glare.

"At least you're healed after a couple slices of cheese," he said. "I've got a broken arm and no way to explain it to my father. I'm never going to be un-grounded again!"

"Relax, it's just a minor fracture," Plagg said, lazily flying up and toward his stash of cheese. "You can say you fell down the stairs or something."

Adrien ignored him, going over to sit in the chair at his desk. He sat down and leaned back, hissing when his back touched the chair. The burns that riddled his back were evidently still bad. Trying to prevent his back from being aggravated by the pressure, he stood up. Cradling his left arm with his right, he started to pace the room.

 _I'm an idiot! She actually told me I was just a friend, and I still tried to kiss her. Why did I think that would work? And why did she lean in? I almost kissed her, and she went with it. How could she do this to me? How could I do this to myself?_ he thought, fuming as he walked. Whether he was more upset at Ladybug, or himself, he didn't know.

"Why did she do that, Plagg? She led me to believe that she might actually have feelings for me. Then she-"

"Adrien!" an angry voice made Adrien stop in his tracks. Plagg hid quickly, and Adrien attempted to hold his arms as nonchalant as possible to hide the fact that it was broken. Gabriel Agreste walked into the room, straight-backed and stern as ever.

"Adrien, it has come to my attention that you were late for class again, and you have been home for hours and have not practiced your piano- Did you do something to your arm?"

The model gulped, instinctively dropping his arms to his side. The movement made him wince, and he had to grab his left arm once more. Despite knowing that there was no way to hide it, Adrien wanted to hide it from his father. Right now, he was too angry to deal with his father's wrath about him getting hurt. He'd only care that it meant he couldn't model while it healed, and he was more concerned about other things to worry about his or his father's career.

"I, uh, I fell down the stairs?" Adrien said, trying and failing at using Plagg's excuse.

His father's expression hardened. "Someone in the house would have heard if you fell down the stairs. Tell me the truth about what happened. I am your father, and you are going to tell me exactly how you hurt your arm." Crossing his arms, he leveled his gaze with Adrien.

Clenching his teeth, Adrien looked down. He didn't say anything - there wasn't anything for him to say. Falling down the stairs was the closest thing to the truth that he could get.

"Did this happen while you were at school?" his father asked. "I'm taking you out immediately. I can't allow something like this to happen."

"No! It wasn't while I was at school!" Adrien yelled suddenly, looking up in a panic. _With everything else happening, I can't go back to being taught at home! I can't leave all of my friends like that. Please, Father!_

The glare deepened. "Where else would this have happened?"

"I…" Adrien paused, desperately trying to think of an explanation. "I was outside."

While it wasn't completely a lie, his father didn't accept it for one moment. Not even missing a beat, the designer said, "I am informed every time you enter and exit this house. If you had returned injured like this, I would have been told. Tell me what really happened, Adrien."

Adrien finally reached his limit. Between people thinking Chat Noir was dating Marinette, getting grounded for being late to class, getting his friend in trouble and her father akumatized, as well as everything with Ladybug, he couldn't keep his cool anymore. His anger boiled to the surface, numbing all of the pain he felt. His eyes hardened and he looked up to match gazes with his father.

"Alright, I snuck out, okay?"

The second the words left his lips, Adrien froze in place. Any hint of anger bled away, replaced with cold and worry. He'd definitely defied his father before, but he had never spoken to him like that. No matter what they told him to do, he had never used a tone like that with his parents. There was no way that doing so now would help him - not when it accompanied the admittance to openly disobeying his grounding. The fear started deep in his gut, and Adrien knew that it would be visible in his eyes.

His father's face was unreadable. When he spoke, Adrien could tell how much anger and disappointment that his father was suppressing. "Nathalie and your bodyguard are going to take you to the hospital to have your arm looked at. When you return, we will talk about your punishment."

* * *

It was a miracle that Marinette was able to go to sleep that night. So much had happened that it kept her mind occupied until she fell asleep without realizing it. When her alarm went off in the morning, she was startled, sitting up lightning-fast like someone had sent an electrical shock through her brain.

"Marinette?" Tikki asked sleepily, waking up with her holder.

Calming down, the girl looked at her kwami with a smile. "Sorry, Tikki. I just didn't realize I'd fallen asleep," she said. She swung her blankets off of her and climbed down the ladder leading to her bed. A million thoughts plagued her as she got ready for the day and ate breakfast with her mother. When she left for school, the primary thing on her mind was about Adrien.

Alix had said she'd overheard Nino on the phone, and that she was sure Adrien had a girlfriend. That meant that whatever had happened during play practice was all in her head. That meant that what had happened in the library was a moment just between friends. That meant that this entire year she had been wasting her time, that she was never actually good enough to date a model like Adrien. The only solace she had was that they were at least friends. No matter how much it hurt, she was glad they were at least frie-

"Alya!" Marinette called, her voice high-pitched and laced with worry and panic. She ran up to her best friend, staring at the figure that had stepped out of a silver car. "Alya, do you know what happened to Adrien's arm?!"

The boy's left forearm was covered in a bright green cast from just under his elbow up to his knuckles. He held his bag very carefully in his other hand instead of letting it cross over his torso. A small smile flitted onto his dejected face when he looked up to see Nino approaching him from the base of the steps.

"I have no idea, girl. Let's go talk to him," Alya said, her eyes following Marinette's. They walked over quickly, joining Nino and Adrien on the sidewalk. "Yo, Adrien, what happened?"

Marinette's eyes widened when Adrien looked over to them. The look in his eyes was mostly sadness, but there was also a rage buried in them that shocked her. She had no idea what could cause something like that, but she had a feeling it may have had to do with what happened to his arm.

"I snuck out yesterday to see- ah… someone, and ended up falling. Got home with my radius fractured, apparently," Adrien replied. "I'll be fine in about 6 weeks. But… My father wasn't exactly happy with me. He's banned me from anything other than school and my Chinese lessons at least until I'm healed. No fencing, no basketball, no photoshoots. No play."

"What? Are you serious?" Alya asked in shock. "But it's a class project! He's really not going to let you be a part of it?"

Adrien nodded sullenly, his eyes on the ground.

"Dude! All of this because you snuck out once and ended up with your arm broken?" Nino complained. "Your dad is so uncool."

"Th-that's- y-you- you can't be a part of the play anymore?" Marinette asked, surprised. _Who did he go to see? Was it his girlfriend?_

Shrugging, Adrien started walking to the steps. "It… wasn't exactly just the one time. And my father's pretty strict, so he wasn't happy to find out that I did it again. When my arm is better, I might be able to convince him to let me be a part of it again, but for now, I'm stuck under complete house arrest. Even my Chinese tutor will be giving me personal lessons. Sorry, guys," he said.

They followed him as he walked into the school.

"Maybe we can talk to Ms. Bustier about postponing the performance," Alya said. "No one else would make a Chat Noir as great as you, and you've proven that you and Marinette have some pretty great chemistry on stage."

A troubled look flashed across Adrien's face but was gone as quick as it appeared. He shrugged, trudging toward the long set of stairs leading to the second floor. "I don't know, guys. You guys have worked hard, and I don't want to be the reason you have to postpone more than a month. The performance was set for a couple weeks, not six."

Nino shook his head. "Dude, no, it's fine. I'm sure the whole class will agree that you are perfect for playing Chat Noir. You could practically actually be him."

This time, he chuckled nervously. However, that was drowned out when Marinette couldn't contain her full-blown laugh. It lasted only a second before she slapped her hand over her mouth to make herself stop. The insinuation that Adrien was anything like Chat just seemed absurd to her. Adrien was so collected and cool, and Chat Noir was… so goofy and open. She liked them both, but there was no way that Adrien could be the holder of the black cat Miraculous.

"Uh, I, um. I just mean that Adrien is so different from Chat Noir. He makes a great Chat Noir, but, uh, they're just so different?" Marinette internally cringed when her defense came out as a question. Her worry prevented her from noticing the strange look Adrien gave her.

Alya laughed in return, shaking her head. "Whatever you say, girl. Let's get to class and Nino and I will talk to Ms. Bustier at lunch or something."

* * *

It took convincing, but they did eventually convince Ms. Bustier and Principal Damocles to let them push back the performance for Adrien. When the school day came to an end, it was a resounding success for the DJ and the blogger. For Marinette, it just brought more anxiety. There was no longer any reason to put off going to see Master Fu. Her shoulder was killing her from overuse - she had done her best not to change anything so no one would know she was hurt. She knew that if she was so sore, Chat Noir would be so much worse. Only one person had the answer, and she had to find out for him.

Waving goodbye to all of her friends and ignoring the pang in her chest as she looked at Adrien, she started off for Master Fu's massage shop. Keeping her pace even was difficult. All she wanted to do was run, but if she did that she would only draw unnecessary attention to what she was doing. Even with what was going on, Master Fu had to remain a secret.

Finally, she knocked on the door. It took only two seconds for the short man to open it and usher her inside.

"It's about time," he said, closing and locking the door quickly. "I saw the news about yours and Chat Noir's latest akuma. He was seriously hurt, was he not?"

Marinette nodded. "Master Fu, it was bad. The Caterer managed to set off some kind of an explosive, and it completely tore through his suit. I've never seen our suits fray, let alone be completely torn apart like that. Even I got hurt during that fight. Our suits don't seem to be protecting us anymore."

He nodded his head, rubbing his chin as he walked around the room. Wayzz appeared from inside the phonograph and he immediately went to hug Tikki. Wanting to give them privacy, they flew to another room. Both Miraculous holders ignored them, intent on the problem at hand.

"There are stories of something like this happening in the past, but it has never reached this severity before. Ladybugs and Chat Noirs have been injured, and they have lasted through to their civilian forms, but destroying a suit like that… This is very bad, Marinette," Master Fu said seriously. "If Hawk Moth has not figured it out by now, he will soon. The two of you are in genuine danger when he does, and with you, the ladybug and black cat Miraculouses."

Clenching her fists with resolve, Marinette did her best to avoid thinking about what would happen if the villain got his hands on the Miraculouses of creation and destruction, and with it made a wish that could warp the fabric of reality.

"What do we have to do? What's causing this?" she asked, giving the guardian all of her attention.

"Well, this has always occurred because of an imbalance between the holders of the Miraculous. Creation and destruction. Yin and Yang. The world requires an even balance of both to survive," he said. "You must talk with Chat Noir. You must discover what has set you so far apart that it would cause this. Otherwise, it will only get worse."

Images of her last encounter with Chat Noir flashed through her mind. He had left so angrily. Yet, she couldn't blame him. Marinette knew at least part of what's wrong. And she knew that it would take a lot to make it any better. She wasn't even sure where to begin.

"That's going to be a lot easier said than done," she said, sighing. "But I'll do whatever I can."


	16. Chapter Sixteen: Tempest

**Chapter Sixteen: Tempest**

It had been one day since Adrien had broken his arm and received the ultimate rejection from the woman he loved. He'd had to face his father, he'd had to face his friends, and he had to go an entire day pretending that his back was fine so nothing would be worse. But that was nothing to pretending that his heart hadn't been ripped to shreds. The entire time, his emotions swung between despair, anger, and hatred. Directed at him, at Ladybug, at his father, at everyone.

Now, to make it a worse, he had to go meet Ladybug for patrol. There was no getting around it, not when it was Chat Noir's job to protect Paris. It was a responsibility that left him staring outside his window, a war inside him while Plagg floated around lazily.  
"You gonna go or what?" the kwami asked.

Adrien sighed, reaching about an inch under his cast to scratch his arm. With medication, it didn't hurt, but that only left such a strong itch which only proved to make his frustration worse. The sun was setting outside the window, the sky slowly fading from a light blue to a faint orange. "I guess that I have to, don't I? Plagg, Claws Out."

Once transformed, his cast was gone. The arm definitely still itched, and he was sure there was no way he could risk using it like normal, but at least he didn't have the bulk in the way. Opening a window, he jumped out. He quickly discovered that using his staff to propel himself forward was more difficult with one arm. Getting to the meeting spot ended up taking longer, so when he did arrive, Ladybug was already sitting there. He paused on the roof across from her for a moment before taking the final leap and landing next to her.

"Hello, Ladybug," he said. He couldn't fully keep his anger from his voice, so his words were stiff and dull.

She smiled at him, grabbing her yo-yo. When she spoke, she somehow seemed disheartened. It threw him off; he wasn't used to seeing her affected by nerves like this. She was normally so sure and confident in everything that she said and did. "Hey, Kitty. Let's get going."

Neither of them said anything else as they started on their way, looking and listening for any sign of something wrong with the city. Chat didn't mind the quiet as they went. It was much more peaceful than it could have been, after everything. He was even able to forget some of what he was feeling as he went through the familiar motions of being Chat Noir, Hero of Paris. The wind brushed through his hair, asphalt crunched under his running feet, and the sounds of Parisians' idle chatter rose to his ears. Even with how delicate he had to be with his arm, it was calming. This had always been his most effective escape, and not even what was happening could change that. Fencing, piano, basketball - nothing even compared to this level of bliss. Then, they stopped on a roof near the school building, and all the peace was snatched away.

"Listen, Chat Noir," Ladybug began. She spoke quickly, getting the words out as soon as he landed. "I found out why we keep getting injured. I don't know why you seem to be getting the brunt of it, maybe something about good luck versus bad luck or something, but I know why it's happening. It's because the two of us are out of sync."

"No kidding, what gave that away?" Chat replied sarcastically. Looking at her, he couldn't keep what he felt hidden inside. He was angry. He was angry that he let himself be fooled into thinking they had a future. But most of all, he was angry that she had let him believe it. She went so far as to almost kiss him, and then reject him? Thinking about it only made him more upset. "Why don't we just get on with the patrol? I don't have a lot of time before I have to get home, so let's get back to protecting Paris. There's nothing else to our relationship other than that, right?"

She sighed, almost sounding exasperated. The sound only proved to make him even angrier. Where did she get the nerve to be upset? He was the one with the right to be upset. Trying to keep his head, he looked at the Paris landscape and focused on the sun lowering in the distance.

"Chat, this is serious! We have to talk about this! Something is going on, and it's a risk not only to us but to all of Paris," she said. Her arms were on her hips as she looked at him, not an ounce of guilt or understanding to be seen on her face.

Chat looked away from the skyline, rounding on her. There was a fire in his eyes, one that felt strange to direct at the love of his life. "And my feelings aren't serious? I am very aware of how we're getting injured lately, but did you ever consider that it's not all because of akumas? There's more than one way to hurt someone, so I'm sorry if I don't feel very 'in sync' with you right now."

Her eyes widened, one of her feet moving back. She composed herself quickly, however. "I'm sorry, Chat Noir! Just listen to me, we need to talk about this calmly. If we don't work this out, Hawk Moth is going to realize what's happening and use it against us both. Our first duty is to protect the people of the city, so we have to work out our issues."

He reached down and scratched his arm as he tried to breathe deeply. Yelling at Ladybug was not how he was going to get over this, but he also knew that being around her only made him upset right now. This shouldn't matter so much, but the ache in his chest just looking at her told his brain otherwise. "I'm sorry, Ladybug. I can't handle our first duty right now. You can finish this patrol on your own if you're insistent that we have to talk."

Not bothering to wait for a reaction, he turned around and jumped to another roof to make his way back home.

* * *

Ladybug watched Chat Noir leave, her mouth hanging open in shock. Was he really that upset with her that he couldn't even finish the patrol with her? _I knew he liked me, but what is this? This is so a lot more than I had thought. I didn't think he actually liked me that much,_ she thought, turning away from the jumping figure.

Yet, she needed to talk to him about what Master Fu had said. Working through all of this was extremely important - especially with how Chat was constantly in danger from the akumas. If they didn't talk, who knew what would happen to them or to the people they were supposed to protect. Maybe Tikki would be able to help her get through to him when her patrol was done.

Starting to walk around, she slowly returned to her patrol. As she went, several people would shout and wave at her, to which she forced a smile and waved back. The entire time, however, her heart just wasn't in it. Chat had disagreed with her in the past, but no arguments had been like this one. They had never been so genuinely angry with one another before. It was all new territory that Ladybug wasn't prepared to face.

Finally deciding she couldn't focus on the patrol, she headed back to the bakery. Having left the trap door open, Ladybug jumped right into her room. The landing onto her bed was soft, and she detransformed immediately. Tikki flew from her earrings and Marinette laid down on her bed in despair.

"What do I do Tikki? He hates me!" Marinette whined. She spread her arms to either side, staring at her ceiling.

"I'm sure it will get better, Marinette. He just needs some time to work through what happened," Tikki said. She landed on the top of the cork board by the bed and smiled down at the girl comfortingly. Marinette turned her head to look at her as she spoke. "Chat Noir will understand, you just need to give him time to think about it. Why don't you try doing something to get your mind off of it? Weren't you wanting to design something for Alya to wear on Valentine's Day?"

The bluenette nodded. Her eyes fell on the board Tikki sat on. It was covered in pictures of her friends. One with her, Alya, and Nino was pinned next to one of her favorites of Adrien. Alya and Nino were already planning their Valentine's Day, and Marinette was going to make Alya something new to wear. She'd only sketched out a couple of concepts, so she really did need to work out a few more to pitch to her. However, her gaze was drawn to the photo of Adrien.  
She thought about how he had acted the other day at school. He'd been so sad after what happened and hadn't said much the entire day. It was like it was some shell of the model that had shown up. Whatever exactly had happened, he could probably use some cheering up as much as she did.

"Yeah. I should try to think about something else."

* * *

Adrien sat at his desk, working on his homework the best he could. It has taken time for him to calm down after seeing Ladybug, but he was finally sitting down and doing something productive. His schoolwork was helping distract him by letting him focus on the only thing about his life that was the same as it had always been. Maybe there was no escape in being with Ladybug, and maybe half of what he did to take up his time was gone, but at least there was still the same amount of homework. Studying took enough concentration that he could tune everything out.

He started with work from Ms. Mendeleiev's class, working through the science questions with surprising ease. For a while, he was even able to ignore Plagg complaining on his bed. It was a strange level of peace.

Until it was once again ruined when he heard a knock on his window. Adrien looked up and spun his chair around to see what caused the sound. His heart wrenches in two, his anger all swarming back when he saw none other than Ladybug at his window. What was she doing here? House calls weren't a part of a patrol, especially for people who have supposedly had no interaction with an akuma attack. The last time she had been around Adrien was before Christmas.

Shoving all of his emotions back down, he grabbed the remote and one of the windows swung open. Ladybug jumped into the room, a smile on her face that seemed to be a mix of her usual confidence and a new layer of sadness that he hadn't seen before.

"Ladybug? What are you doing here?" he asked, hoping none of his bitterness would come through. She glanced around the room quickly before looking down at the green cast on his arm. Adrien moved it behind his back, trying to keep it from her view the best that he could.

"I-I heard about your broken arm, and I wanted to stop by to see how you were doing. Something like that must be hard to adjust to, and- Oh! You also need to tell me how those Christmas gifts went over with all of your friends," she said, her brain switching tracks from rambling to direct mid-sentence. Her smile seemed forced, conflicting with the part of him that still wanted to yell at her. He hadn't wanted to make her _sad_ with what he said. All he wanted was for her to understand.

Adrien tried his hand at a smile, summoning every ounce of skill he had garnered as a model so his true emotions wouldn't show. He didn't know what would come out if he let it, so he opted to try to keep them all to himself. It was safer that way. "My friends loved the gifts. Thank you for helping me pick them out, you had a good eye. Especially with picking my friend's music," he said.

Ladybug nodded. "G-good. It was a lot of fun to help you."

After a thick moment of silence, Adrien couldn't help but say something. He had to know what she was thinking beneath the false expression she wore to make her seem happy. She couldn't possibly still be mad at him, could she? The only one who got to be mad right now was himself. "So, where's Chat Noir? The Ladyblog said that today's patrol should be both of you, right? Why isn't he with you?"

It was like his questions cracked her mask. She sighed, her face falling notably. Her eyes were filled with regret as she turned to glance out the window, her smile deepened by sadness Adrien hadn't expected. "Chat Noir and I had a bit of a fight, and he went home. I did something that hurt him, and I think he's having trouble forgiving me. Not that I can blame him, but I hope that I didn't lose him, because of what happened," she said, returning her eyes to Adrien with a half-hearted shrug.

Looking into her eyes, Adrien was shocked to see the level of distress there. Where had any of that been on the patrol when she was practically telling him he just had to get over it? There hadn't been a shred of this when she criticized him for getting upset. If he didn't know her, he would have said he was talking to a completely different person. Except, he'd seen her like this before. She'd overreacted with Lila, but been apologetic after saving her from the effects of an akuma. Maybe she would fixate on something too much sometimes, but she always tried to repair it afterward. It was one of the things he loved about her. Though, right now, it was also one of the more annoying things.

He sighed, awkwardly folding his arms - the clunky cast made him feel like everything he would do from now on would be awkward. Fitting, seeing as how he couldn't even talk to one of his best friends without hurting inside. "I'm sure that it will be okay soon," Adrien said.

"What makes you say that?" Ladybug asked. "You don't even know what happened between me and him."

A smile graced his lips. "Because no matter what happens, you guys are partners. I've seen you two fighting together. You look so right doing it, like you just get each other so well there don't need to be any questions about what you're doing. Whatever happened, Chat Noir probably just needs some time." The way her shoulders relaxed at his words warmed his heart, which, in turn, led to a pang of sorrow. Before meeting her, he wouldn't have imagined this level of heartache was even possible.

After contemplating what he said, Ladybug nodded. "Thank you, Adrien. I really hope that you're right."


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Blackthorn

**Author's Note: Hey everyone! I'm sorry there's such a gap between chapters sixteen and seventeen. I was trying to approach it in the wrong way, and it just wouldn't write. However, I believe that I've figured out the direction I need to go (evidence being that I actually wrote a chapter)! If you haven't lost interest yet with the wait, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen: Blackthorn**

During their next patrol, Ladybug didn't say anything about Master Fu, or Chat's injuries. He was still stiff around her. She was sure that if she so much as mentioned the Caterer that he would get just as angry again. Instead, she chose to stay silent unless spoken to.

So far, all she'd said was hello.

Glancing in his direction, she noted the way he was carrying himself. Whenever he used his staff, his left arm remained close to his chest while the right held on tighter to compensate. And his back remained perfectly straight the whole time. He never once let anything touch it in the slightest. Apparently, each one of his injuries was staying, too.

Her own shoulder wasn't afraid to remind her of its injury when it was moved too much. They really needed to talk soon - the way he was behaving was starting to get on her nerves. Every time she thought about it, though, she had to remind herself that he had every right to be angry. What had happened wasn't something he would get over easily, and she had no right to expect him to.

"Ladybug! Ladybug!"

Looking downward, Ladybug saw a man on the sidewalk waving up at them. After sharing a quick glance with Chat Noir, they both jumped down to meet him.

The boy in front of them had short blonde hair styled vaguely like Adrien's, but he had a stronger build. Blue eyes and pale lips stared at them, starstruck. He gripped a flower in his hand so tightly his knuckles were almost white.

"Hi there," Ladybug said, immediately defaulting to her normal cheery self. "What can Chat Noir and I help you with?"

He looked between them but focused his nervous eyes on Ladybug. "I-I wa-wanted to talk to you, Ladybug. I'm a-a huge fan. More than a fan. I-I love you, Ladybug." Looking down at his hand, he held out what she could now see was a red rose. "I'm in love with you."

Chat Noir muttered something under his breath. He pointedly folded his arms and looked away from the shocked heroine.

Ladybug stared down at the rose, eyes wide as they flicked between it and the two people with her. Her partner looked angry once more, and the boy in front of her looked like he was holding his breath waiting for a response. _What do I do? Oh man, what do I do?!_

"I'm really sorry," she found herself saying after a long moment, "but I can't accept this. You should give it to someone who will appreciate those words more than I do. I'm sorry."

Casting a look at her Chat, she flung her yo-yo and yanked herself up to the nearest rooftop. She didn't turn back to see what either of them was thinking, or how they were reacting to what she had said. Getting away from both of them was what she needed right now. The heartbreak she seemed to be causing at every turn was starting to become more obvious to her like she was finally noticing the dagger she held in her hand.

Why were things starting to become so complicated? When had being Ladybug become harder and more perilous than being Marinette?

"Don't feel too bad." Chat Noir's voice suddenly broke her out of her thoughts. She was on the other side of the roof she'd landed on, and he had apparently walked up behind her. "You handled _that_ one well."

The emphasis he placed on 'that' made her wince, but she nodded. "I keep hurting people, it seems like. First you, now him." Turning around to face him, she caught his eyes before he could look away. "I really am sorry, Chat."

An intense pain hid deep in his eyes, hidden by layers of what she could only explain as expertise in hiding how one felt. He looked away quickly, further trying to hide it. "We should just get back to our patrol."

Ladybug sighed, looking down. "Okay. Let's go." He leaped off the building first, not turning his head so much as a fraction of an inch in her direction. After taking a moment to herself, she followed him and they resumed patrolling the beautiful city of Paris.

* * *

The sun was low in the sky, casting a deep orange glow across the city. If they didn't leave soon, Adrien was sure he would be in a ton of trouble. If being in more trouble was even possible for him right now. The rare times his father was even around, it was worse than usual. The cast acted as a permanent wall between Adrien and his father, one that would he would never be able to tear down. A distance that would leave him alone forever.

"Paris seems safe tonight. I think I'm going to head home," he said.

Ladybug nodded dejectedly but didn't say anything to object. She did try one last time to catch his gaze, however. Why was she so bent on doing that? Just being around her was ripping his heart from his chest; he really didn't need to know exactly how she was feeling about it all.

"I'll see you at the next patrol then?" she inquired, hopeful.

"If I can make it, I will. Can't leave Paris undefended, can I?" he replied. He pulled out his staff, about to press one of the buttons on the paw pad when he heard something.

A hoard of voices, all shouting. The sound was faint, but the hearing he gained from his transformation brought it to his attention. His ear twitched as he strained to hear what was happening. It sounded bad. Angry. Almost like a vague echo of the things he had felt a few days prior. That became even clearer with the shouts.

" _Where is she?" "Let's get her!" "Down with Ladybug!"_

Wait, what?

"Chat? What is it?" Ladybug asked, her brow furrowing at his pause.

"Uh, we have a problem, LB." Before he could elaborate, all of the shouts became even louder. They were getting close to their position, and the crowd - whoever they were - had taken up a mantra.

"Are they- are they saying 'Down with Ladybug'?" she asked slowly as it became audible to her ears.

Chat Noir simply nodded, turning where he stood to find the location of the noise. In the distance, coming down the street were hundreds of Parisians. Each one shouted along to this strange mantra they had picked up. Stepping up to the edge of the building they were on, Chat looked closely at the front of the group. A lone figure led them.

He was clad in an immaculate black suit, a red rose secured on his jacket like a boutonniere. His eyes glowed blood red, his face contorted in some strange mix of rage and delight. As the group approached anyone, this man pointed to them and their eyes turned the same glowing red before they joined the group. Looking closely at his face, Chat recognized who it was.

"I take it back, you didn't handle it as well as we thought."

"What are you talking about? Handle what- is that…?" Ladybug stepped up next to him, seeing the person leading the crowd.

"That's the boy you turned down," Chat confirmed. "Courtesy of Hawk Moth."

* * *

"Run, Ladybug!"

Ladybug continued to stare at the group, even as they approached the base of the building. Sure, akumas had sent groups of people after them. But it had never been like this. It wasn't a collective of people aiming specifically for her head. The sight mesmerized her, Chat's words falling on deaf ears.

* * *

What on Earth was she doing?! Some people from the crowd were rushing forward to set up ladders, the group of those filled with hatred coming toward their target. Who knew what they would do if they got to them?

"Ladybug! Ladybug you have to run!" he said, turning his focus on her. She was just staring at the crowd, stuck in a shocked stupor.

Gritting his teeth, he made a snap decision. Chat pressed a button on his staff, wrapped his injured arm around her, and jumped. Screaming pain shot through his arm, but he didn't let go of her until they were a couple of blocks away. They landed and his grip faltered, the sharp pangs too much to ignore.

He stumbled, dropping his staff to hold onto his forearm instead. Sucking in air between his teeth, he closed his eyes tightly. Great, just great. This was the opposite of what he needed right now.

* * *

"C-Chat!" Ladybug hurried over to him, placing a hand gently on his shoulder. His action had brought her back to the gravity of the situation. Unfortunately, it looked like he had hurt himself further by doing so.

"I'm fine," he said, the words coming out stiff and forced. "What happened to you back there?"

She glanced back the way they'd come, where the mob was undoubtedly beginning to make their way over here. "I'm so sorry, Chat. I just wasn't expecting that. Having so many people hate you is kind of surreal. Knowing they hate you, it feels… strange. Even if it is caused by an akuma."

 _Especially on top of you hating me,_ she thought ruefully, looking at her partner. He had opened his eyes but was still cradling his arm. Even he wasn't able to completely keep the pain off of his face. They needed to deal with this fast, so he could get home, where he could find something to help.

"He's going to get the entire city if we don't stop him soon," Chat said. "I wasn't able to see how he's turning them, but unless you want to be facing the entire city, we need to figure out where his akuma is." He gingerly held his arm close to his body as he bent over to pick up his staff. As he hooked it onto his belt, Ladybug thought back to their encounter with the boy.

Had there been any object that stood out on his person? The only thing she could remember him holding had been-

"The rose!" she blurted. "He has one pinned to his suit, that has to be it! It would be the perfect place for Hawk Moth to put the akuma."

His attention had moved to the side, where the shouting had once again resumed. Ladybug stepped onto the lip of the roof, watching the group of angry Parisians follow the loan akuma through the streets. People in front of them ran, but they all stopped when he pointed at them. What was he doing that he was turning them?

"Got a plan, Ladybug?" Chat asked, walking up next to her.

"We'll have to be fast. Under the influence of an akuma, who knows what that crowd would do. I can swing down and grab him. If we can separate him from them, getting the rose should be easier," Ladybug said, grabbing her yo-yo from her waist. They were almost to their building again, so the window of opportunity was closing.

Chat's staff extended, but he stayed where he was. "Bring him up here. We'll get that akuma in no time."

She swung the yo-yo and jumped off the roof, dipping down into the streets. The screams were swept away in the wind as she raced toward the akuma. Everyone was pointing at her, glowing scarlet eyes malicious. The boy was pointing to another person running down the street. Something shot from the tip of his finger as Ladybug grabbed him.

Before he could react, she was on the other side of the street and pulling them up to the other roof. Chat Noir landed deftly on the other side as they crossed the lip of the rooftop. Before she had the chance to land, something pricked her side. She dropped him next to her partner, stumbling to the ground.

"Ladybug? Are you okay?" Chat rushed over to her and the akuma, stopping so he could block his exit off the roof.

Several thoughts raced through her head as she stood up. They were all strange, each one echoing what the people below were thinking. _Down with Ladybug! Take off your Miraculous right now, you're useless this way. Just give the earrings to Hawk Moth and let him do whatever he wants._

 _Wait, what?_

Clambering to her feet, Ladybug looked down at her side. There was some blood trickling down her suit, and something black poking out from the source of her pain. There was a slight sting as she pulled it out, and the blood flow increased slightly. As it came out, the thoughts vanished. The wound it had left didn't look too deep, so she ignored it and looked at the item she had pulled out of her side.

Her brow furrowed and she looked over at the akuma, who was grinning. "A thorn?" she asked.

Raising his hand, he pointed at Chat Noir. Several more thorns shot from his fingertip, and the hero only just avoided getting hit by them. "Hello, Ladybug. I am Blackthorn, the person who will end your cruel reign over Paris. Give me both of your Miraculous' and this can end easier."

"Fat chance, flower boy," Chat said, his staff extending to fighting length. He spun it once, carefully keeping it in his right hand. He took a step toward him, ready for a fight.

Ladybug threw the thorn to the side, where it clinked against the rooftop before it settled into a place near the edge. She grabbed her yo-yo and moving to the other side. "Hawk Moth has never gotten our Miraculouses before, and he won't get them now," she said, backing up Chat Noir's words.

A purple butterfly appeared in front of Blackthorn's face, and he grinned. "Yes, Hawk Moth." He pointed at each hero, thorns shooting out at them. On reflex, they both dodged to the side to avoid getting hit by the projectiles. The moves, however, gave Blackthorn the room he needed to actively maneuver around the space.

He backed away from them, deliberately snapping the fingers on both of his hands. Long green sticks appeared in each one with a sparkle of black magic. Fitting to his name, they were covered in large black thorns. Ladybug straightened up as fast as she could, spinning her yo-yo as she got into a fighting pose next to Chat Noir. Both of them gripped their weapons tightly, watching Blackthorn carefully, waiting to see what he would do.

"You may have pulled out that one thorn, Ladybug, but good job avoiding all of these." Blackthorn spread out his arms and spun in a full circle, going on his toes to do so. As he spun, the thorns on his sticks flew outward. They were the size of lightbulbs, each of them approaching the heroes at blinding speeds.

Panicking, Ladybug started spinning her yo-yo to deflect the ones that approached her. They were flung to the side, going in a slow arch off of the edge and down to the street. From the corner of her vision, she saw Chat Noir try to spin his staff to do the same. After deflecting one, however, he ended up dropping to the ground instead. Using the one arm to spin it must have been too difficult. At least he was safe.

As the hail of thorns stopped, Ladybug stepped forward to get between Chat and Blackthorn. Her partner couldn't fight properly, and if he got struck by one of those thorns…

She shook her head. The owner of the black cat Miraculous would NOT hate her because of this akuma. It was bad enough he was so angry with her as it was, there was no way she would allow that anger turn to actual hatred.

"What do you think you'll be able to do?" Blackthorn asked, smirking. "I can't dodge my thorns and my army at the same time!"

His crimson eyes moved behind Ladybug.

Both she and Chat Noir looked behind them, to the side of the roof lining the street the mob had been on. The tops of several ladders showed, and some people with glowing eyes and angry, twisted faces were appearing on the roof. A dark laugh from Blackthorn brought their attention back to him.

"Are you really going to hurt all of those people? There's nowhere else for you to run, not when you're on this rooftop already." Blackthorn took a step toward them as ladders showed up on the other side. Thorns grew out of both of his sticks again. "Give me your Miraculouses. Stop being Ladybug, and give up your powers. That's the only way this will end without you getting hurt."

Ladybug looked over at Chat, both of them stepping closer to one another. There was nowhere for them to escape to; this was the tallest building in the immediate area. They had to get that rose now or never if they wanted to keep their Miraculouses and their sanity.

More and more people poured onto the roof. They were practically riding each other's heels coming up the ladder. Within moments, there was a ring around the heroes and Blackthorn.

"Uh, it might be about time for a Lucky Charm, Ladybug," Chat Noir said nervously. They kept their backs to one another, spinning in a slow circle to keep their eyes on everyone surrounding them. Ladybug kept her yo-yo spinning, and Chat Noir had his staff held in front of him protectively, his arm hung carefully at his side.

She nodded in agreement. Chat Noir could barely fight like this, the best way to protect him was to get this fight over with. Throwing her yo-yo into the air, she shouted, "Lucky Charm!"

Adorned in Ladybug's regular spotted pattern, a full-body shield dropped from the burst of magic and into her hands. A shield? What was she supposed to do with that? It was too bulky to do anything that required any level of finesse. They couldn't use it to push through the crowd without revealing their backs to Blackthorn. If they wanted to do the opposite and go for him, they'd be overtaken by the crowd. There was no way it could get them out of the situation. So, why had she been given this object?

Her eyes fell to her side after scanning the area, looking at Chat's useless arm. This was like the Bubbler all over again. Then, she had wanted to stop Adrien from dancing with Chloe, so her Lucky Charm had given her a way to stop that instead of the akuma. This time, she'd been thinking about protecting Chat Noir.

"I don't think the shield is to stop him, Chat. I think it's to keep you safe since you can't spin your staff with your arm out of commission," she said. As she held the shield behind her for him to grab, the true gravity of the situation dawned on her.

They were trapped on the highest rooftop in the immediate area, surrounded by rabid Parisians and an angry akuma.

And there was no way for Ladybug to get them out.

…

 _Beep beep_


	18. Chapter 18: Every Rose Has Its Thorn

**Chapter Eighteen: Every Rose Has Its Thorn**

Chat Noir held a semi-transparent shield in front of him, the red and black coloring distorting the view of an enraged mob surrounding him and Ladybug. They started to close in around them like a swarm of locusts coming for a fresh crop. His staff was now hooked onto his belt so he could use his free arm to hold the full-body protective gear.

"I appreciate the thought here and all, but why didn't your Lucky Charm give us something that could actually get us out of this mess?" he asked, glancing behind him. Ladybug looked worried - really worried. There had been less than a handful of times that he had seen her like this. She really didn't see a way out of this, did she?

The akuma snickered. "Aw, how sweet. Your only chance out of this wasted just to give the kitty-cat a few extra seconds. Unfortunately, it's going to be useless."

 _Beep beep_

"You're losing time. We need a plan right now, not in a few minutes," he said urgently. More thorns got shot at them, and Chat shifted the shield. They thumped heavily against it, but the shield did its job at keeping him safe from them.

"I don't know what to do, Chat," Ladybug said, her voice hushed so only he would hear. They stopped moving in a circle, each one keeping an eye on one half of the crowd. "I was distracted thinking about your arm, so I guess the Lucky Charm decided to fix that instead. I don't see how the shield can actually help us out of this situation."

"Then we need to figure out something else. Hawk Moth can't get our Miraculouses," Chat replied.

 _Beep beep_

"Your time is running out, Ladybug," Chat warned. He held up the shield against a sudden volley of thorns, accompanied by a cackle from Blackthorn. The akuma knew that he had them cornered without a plan. Without the Lucky Charm able to do more than protect him…

Ladybug's hand was suddenly on his shoulder, her lips an inch from his ear. "I know what we have to do. Do you trust me?" she hurriedly whispered.

"Definitely, Milady," he said without hesitation.

She didn't say anything else before pushing him, putting more force on one of his shoulders than the other. He stumbled forward, turning slightly because of her push. Now, he was facing toward Blackthorn. He braced his arm, holding up the shield while keeping his attention on Ladybug. What was she planning here? Without him there, she was far more open to an attack.

Apparently, that was exactly what she intended. Blackthorn grinned maliciously and swept one of his sticks to the side, sending a barrage of baseball-sized thorns at her. She dodged most of them but hit one with a shining silver staff. The thorn was pivoted to the side - directly at him. It smacked into the shield, sending a small shockwave through his arm as it ricocheted.

Chat watched through the tinted shield as it flew back at Blackthorn, catching him in the chest. Specifically, it had pierced the head of the rose. The force of the hit made him fall to the ground as a purple akuma slipped out of the broken flower. Ladybug's yo-yo started spinning as the crowd around them processed what had happened. They started swarming forward toward them.

"Uh, Ladybug, I think you need this." Backing away from the people, he tossed the shield over to her.

She caught it easily as she finished purifying the akuma. "Miraculous Ladybug!" she shouted, heaving the shield as high as she could into the air. Red and black magic sprang from it, surrounding everything on the rooftop.

When it cleared, everyone was back to normal.

"Pound it!" They fist bumped one another, relief temporarily overshadowing any resentment or anger either one was feeling.

 _Beep beep_

"Thank you for this," Ladybug said, holding out his baton. "I didn't exactly have time to ask, so I just took it when I pushed you. It was the only thing that would have let me hit the thorn where I needed it to go."

Taking it back, Chat hooked it back onto his belt. "I didn't even realize it was gone. Guess I need to pay more attention, don't I?"

Ladybug smiled. "Speaking of, I have about 30 seconds before I reveal who I am to half of Paris. Can you take this?" She was already backing away toward the edge of the roof.

He nodded, looking at all of the confused faces around them. Right before she jumped off the roof, however, he stopped her. "Wait! Ladybug, I… can we talk? Tomorrow evening? The usual place and time?"

"I'll see you then. Goodbye, kitty cat." She waved to him then jumped, throwing her yo-yo to take her to a safe place to transform.

* * *

"Talk to her? _Talk to her?_ What was I thinking?! I don't want to talk to her!" Adrien paced back and forth in his bedroom, angrily chastising himself for the last words he'd said to Ladybug. "Plagg, why would I say something so stupid?"

The kwami floated over to him, engulfing a piece of camembert cheese. "Maybe in the moment you decided to make up with her. It would be better for your fights with akumas if you did, you know," he replied around his mouthful of cheese.

Adrien stopped where he was to look over at him. "She broke my heart a week ago, Plagg, I don't feel in the mood to make up with her. Every time I see her I feel like my heart is being crushed again, and I don't particularly feel like deliberately causing that pain." He moved over to his couch, flopping down across it.

"Then what do you plan to talk to her about tomorrow?" Plagg asked curiously, sitting on the back of the couch and looking down at Adrien. "It's got to be good if it's worth scheduling something outside of your patrols. Especially after everything that's happened. I bet she's expecting some big revelation or something."

Groaning, Adrien draped his uncasted arm over his eyes. "What am I going to do? I can't blow her off, but I don't really want to talk to her either."

"I guess you have some thinking to do," Plagg replied.

* * *

"Do I really have to go to school today, Tikki?" Marinette groaned. She hadn't been able to get a lot of sleep the night before. Her side was still hurting from the thorn that had pricked her the night before. With that and the homework she had been forced to do soon after she got home, she hadn't had that much time to think about Chat Noir or the akuma fight.

"Unless you want to get in trouble with your parents again, you probably should," the small kwami replied, hanging in the air next to her. She smiled, failing at covering a giggle as the blunette playfully swatted at her. Tikki easily avoided the hand as Marinette gingerly began climbing off of her bed.

Sharp protests came from her side every time she moved too much, so she opted to eat on her way to school instead of with her parents. Opening her jacket, Tikki flew inside and Marinette climbed down from her bedroom. Luckily, there was a note on the counter from her parents. They'd both gone down to the bakery to work.

Grabbing a croissant that they had left for her on the counter, she left the house and made her way to school. It was late enough that everyone was starting to arrive for their classes. So, when Alya appeared at her side and put her arm around her, she wasn't surprised.

"You look like you had a long weekend," Alya noted, looking down at Marinette. She had her backpack slung over one shoulder, leaning slightly on her friend. The added weight sent a stab of pain from her side, but the designer managed to ignore it.

"You could say that," she replied, putting on a smile. "I put off doing my homework until last night, so I wasn't able to get much sleep."

Alya removed her arm from around her friend and bumped her shoulder against hers in a half-comforting, half-joking manner. "At least you get to see Adrien today," she said teasingly. She pointed in front of them where the blonde was climbing out of a silver car.

Before Marinette explain to Alya what was going on with Adrien, she was being towed across the sidewalk to meet up with Nino and the model. They looked over as they approached, and Marinette felt her nerves flare up as Adrien looked over at her. She knew he probably had a girlfriend, but his presence still made her blush. And the look in his eyes-

He didn't look quite like he normally did. His green eyes always had a natural sparkle to them, but there was something different about what was behind that today. A level of melancholy and distress that most people probably wouldn't notice with the perfect smile he wore. That look had been present for the past few days. What could possibly cause that in someone as amazing as him?

"Hey guys," Adrien greeted, waving.

"Did you guys hear about the akuma attack yesterday?" Nino asked once they were all done with the 'hellos'. "I saw it on the news, and it was totally insane. I thought for sure Ladybug and Chat Noir was stuck there for a minute."

His girlfriend shook her head enthusiastically, instantly forgetting to make fun of her friend for her reaction to Adrien. "Come on, Nino, have more faith in Ladybug. Even if she didn't figure it out instantly, she always gets the answer eventually. I mean, she hasn't failed yet, has she?"

"But, dude, Hawk Moth has totally been getting meaner lately. You saw what happened to Chat Noir when he was fighting the Caterer. He actually got injured. And not like a tiny scrape either, his back was destroyed!" Nino countered. "I have faith in Ladybug, but the akumas seem to be attacking with a vengeance lately. I'm just worried about them, is all."

Marinette glanced down at her feet. He was right, Hawk Moth was starting to get worse and worse. If she and Chat Noir didn't work out what was going on between the two of them soon, the other Miraculous holder was going to trap them in a situation that they really couldn't make their way out of. Hopefully, that was what Chat Noir would want to talk about that evening.

"Maybe so, but Ladybug and Chat Noir are different than Hawk Moth," Alya argued. She crossed her arms, looking at her boyfriend sternly. What she said got both Marinette and Adrien's attention, though Marinette didn't notice the interest he showed in her argument. "Whatever it is that's going on, I know that they'll work it out together. Isn't that something that always sets them apart? Their partnership is the reason that they've been able to succeed like this, and that's why they'll keep winning."

Nino sighed, but smiled and put his arm around Adrien's shoulders. "You have a point there. I'd do anything for my bud Adrien here."

* * *

Adrien laughed nervously. "Back at you, Nino."

They all continued chatting, Marinette breaking in to say something about her friendship with Alya. What exactly she said didn't stick, however. Adrien's thoughts were too deep in thinking about what Alya had said about Ladybug and Chat Noir, and their partnership. Was he really risking everything with how he was treating her?

Nino and Alya led the way as they started up the school's steps. That left him trailing slightly behind with Marinette on his left. Doing his best to put thoughts about Ladybug into the back of his mind, he looked over at his friend. She was walking timidly, looking just as exhausted and distracted as Adrien felt.

"How was your weekend?" Adrien asked, trying to find out what had happened without actually pressing. Maybe helping with whatever was bothering her would help him work through his own problems, as abundant as they unfortunately were.

Marinette looked over at him, clearly surprised by the question. "I, uh, my- my weekend was actually kind of long. There was a lot happening, I guess."

He couldn't help but smile. Even after the stuttering start, she was starting to be able to talk to him like normal. The amount of time they'd spent together for the play seemed to be helping her get over whatever made her nervous around him. Though he wasn't sure if that was the fame he had gotten as a model that made her stammer like that, he really enjoyed talking to her when she was able to.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Adrien asked, hoping he could get her to confide in him. In front of them, Alya and Nino were still discussing Ladybug and Chat Noir.

For a moment, he thought he had overstepped and she wasn't going to say anything, but eventually, she seemed to decide to share with him. "I had a bit of a fight with, uh, a-an old friend. I really want to make up with them, but I'm worried anything I try will just make them more upset," Marinette sighed.

Adrien nodded, absently scratching his hand under the bright green cast as he thought of something to say. "Whether or not it makes them upset, I think you should keep trying. Even if they don't appreciate it now, I'm sure they will once you make up. Knowing you didn't just give up would have to be a nice comfort. I mean, if you stop fighting for your friendship, then there's no way to save it, right?"

The group started up the blue staircase. Nino and Alya were in front, still engrossed in their conversation about the Miraculous holders. Letting Marinette go up next, Adrien brought up the rear of their small procession up the steps.

"I guess so," Marinette replied, thinking over his response. Anxiety leaked into her voice as she continued. "But what if I say the wrong thing? They're really upset with me, I could ruin our friendship completely if I'm not careful."

As they got to the top, Adrien gently bumped his shoulder against her's. "You'll know what to say. Whenever I've seen you in a tough situation, you always say the right thing. Like when you were up against Chloe for your position as Class Rep. Even after an akuma fight, you knew exactly what to do to win over everyone in the class." He smiled at her as they walked into the classroom.

"Plus with everything you've been able to do with the play, you seem to have gotten more confident. I believe in you, Marinette." With that said, he slid into his seat in the front row, not noticing the faint blush that overcame her cheeks. Their friends' topic seemed to end at the same time, so each of them took their seats. Nino and Adrien turned slightly to look at the other two so the conversation wouldn't die entirely.

"So, I was thinking about the play, and I had an idea I'd like to run past you guys," Nino said, primarily looking between Marinette and Adrien.

Adrien shook his head, motioning to his cast. "I told you guys that I can't do anything with the play. I'm grounded from doing anything that doesn't happen during school hours. My father would kill me if he found out that I was working on the play with you guys still," he said.

His best friend only smiled. "I may have found a way around that. He banned the play, but do you think he would stop you from having some sort of study group come over to your house after school?"

Alya's face lit up like the Eiffel Tower at night. "Nino, you are a GENIUS!" she exclaimed. She practically leaped around her desk to wrap her arms around him, accidentally shoving him a bit closer to Adrien.

"I don't think I understand," Adrien said, confused as he looked between his three friends. "Why would a study group have anything to do with the play? My father can be oblivious, but he would notice if our entire class showed up with scripts and costumes, and we can't exactly do the play with just me and Marinette."

"We can't do the entire play, but we can keep practicing with just you two! If we can run through it all once or twice a week, then neither of you will forget anything. That way we can have everyone else continue working on sets and costumes, and when your dad lets you come back we won't have to start from the beginning again," Nino explained as Alya returned to her seat. "What do you think? Do you think he'd accept just the three of us going over?"

He thought back to what his father had said, and how angry he'd been that Adrien had been sneaking out. Considering he continued to do so, sneakily practicing for the play was a major risk. Though, it would definitely be harder for him to say no if they managed to make it seem like an actual study group...

"I'm not sure, guys. My father is really mad. We'd have to be really careful to convince them that that's what we're actually doing - studying, I mean," Adrien said. Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked at the hopeful expressions on all of his friend's faces. Even some of the students trickling in that had heard seemed to be waiting with bated breath for a positive answer. "I'll try and ask him, but I'm not promising anything."

That seemed to sate them all. Normal chatter resumed in the classroom, and Alya nodded approvingly. Everyone really was excited about this play. Knowing he may have ruined it for everyone certainly didn't help his mood. However, he was careful not to show any of it.

"You're going to try and get Gabriel Agreste to fall for that?" Chloe's chastising voice came from the doorway. "He is not an idiot, you know. My Adrikins is too smart, he has never needed a study group in his entire life. Do you really think he'd believe that he _conveniently_ needs one now that he's not allowed out of the house again?"

The word 'again' made him wince slightly.

"What do you propose we do instead, Chloe? Wait until his arm is healed and start practice over again? Or would you rather we give the part of Chat Noir to somebody else?" Despite the fact that she'd been quiet for the past couple minutes, Marinette spoke up to oppose Chloe. She stood up and folded her arms, glaring at the girl Adrien had known for so long.

The blonde girl stepped further into the room, using her unique talent of becoming the center of attention. "No, way! Adrien is the only one that can play this role. I'm just saying that there is no way you three will be allowed through the gate with that flimsy excuse, much less the front door."

"Guys, come on," Adrien said, interrupting Alya who was already standing and about to say something back. "Chloe does have a point. The most I've ever had was my tutors teaching me the material. He may not believe that I actually need a study group. Let's hear her out, Chloe has no reason to sabotage any of this."

A smug look crossed her face as Adrien looked back over to Chloe. When she spoke, however, she focused on Adrien, her face softening to reveal a bit of the girl he knew she was. "Why don't I come with? Your dad likes me, so he would definitely let me come to study with you. You can even tell him these guys need to come along too. Though, I suppose I could always take over Marinette's part and practice with you."

"Nuh-uh," Alya said instantly. "Marinette has the part of Ladybug, not you, Chloe."

Shrugging nonchalantly, Chloe leaned her hands on Adrien's desk. "Well? What do you say about me joining your little group so you actually can practice?"

Adrien sat back, looking over at the others. None of them looked like they wanted to say yes, but none of them did. "Look, guys, she's probably right. My father's never said no to me hanging out with Chloe. He'd be more likely to say yes if I was helping her study."

After a shared look, they seemed to grudgingly come to a decision. "Fine. But Marinette will be acting as Ladybug, not you." Alya's gaze was unwavering, her arms folded defiantly.

"Deal," Chloe said, smiling satisfactorily.

* * *

As they left school for the day, the discussion between his friend's returned to the partnership between Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"I'm telling you, there's something to be said about them being together," Alya insisted, looking around at the students as they grabbed their bags and started through the class's doorway. A ton of conversations was going on around them, easily leaving the renewed topic between just the four of them. The school day had put the issue of practicing out of their heads, but the Ladyblogger apparently hadn't forgotten her conversation with Nino at the start of the day.

Marinette looked at her, confused - a feeling that was echoed inside of Adrien. "What do you mean?"

"Hawk Moth works alone as far as we know, and he's never succeeded at getting what he wants, has he? And they never seem to beat the akuma unless they're actually together," Alya insisted. They waited by the stairs, waiting for some of their other classmates to file down them. "You have to agree that their partnership is what keeps Hawk Moth at bay!"

 _Our partnership?_ Adrien thought, taking the first step down the stairs. He kept his broken arm held carefully next to his bag as they walked. _Is that really what makes the difference for us? Do we only win because of how we work together?_

Adrien zoned out for the rest of the conversation, his last encounter with Ladybug running through his mind. When they got to the curb, he waved goodbye to his friends and climbed into the silver vehicle that was already waiting for him. His father wasn't taking any chances lately, so the car was always there before classes even got out. It was like he thought that Adrien was going to run if he was given so much as an inch of wiggle room in the strict rules.

The bodyguard started driving silently, and Adrien turned his attention to the window and the overcast sky. His thoughts started to wander but quickly settled down on what his friends had spent the day discussing: the partnership of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Were they right about what they said? Were they really that much better off because they were working together instead of working separately? He certainly hadn't been treating Ladybug like much a partner lately.

Though, that was because of what she did. She had betrayed him, letting him believe that he actually had a chance with her. Now just thinking about her physically hurt. He loved her with all of his heart, and she still turned him down, rejected him. What kind of partner did that? If she hadn't liked him, she should have been honest from the start instead of stringing him along as she had. After so much time working together with her turning him down, Adrien had started to think that she was seeing him differently.

Not all of it could have been in his head, right? And if not, what had changed? Ladybug was one of the kindest people that he'd ever met, why would she turn around and hurt him like that? There had to be a reason she acted that way. The Ladybug that he knew would never do something like that just because.

"Adrien. Adrieeeeeen."

The sound of Plagg's drawn-out whine brought his attention back to what was happening. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, his bag sprawled out next him and Plagg flying in annoying circles around his head. Apparently, he had been so deep in thought that he didn't notice himself going through the motions of leaving the car and returning to his bedroom. The dampness of his shoulders told him that it must have started raining, too.

"What is it, Plagg?" Adrien asked as the kwami came to a stop in front of him.

He shrugged in response, his small arms crossing over one another. "You were just so out of it, I was wondering what had you so occupied. Plus, I'm running low on camembert."

Sighing, Adrien laid back on his bed. "I'll order you some more after I meet with Ladybug and talk to my father, okay?"

"Good, because if I run out, I'll take your phone and order all of the expensive cheeses my little heart desires," he said. There was a small pause as the kwami moved around in the air a little bit. "What are you going to talk to Ladybug about anyway? You've had all day to keep moping about it."

Adrien shot the kwami a glare, sitting up and beginning to take things from his school bag. Once he had the books he wanted, along with his tablet, he moved to sit at his desk. "I'm still not sure. I think there's a lot that we need to talk about."

The patter of rain filled his ears as he began to work on homework, trying and failing to keep himself distracted before he had to leave.

* * *

The rain poured as he waited for Ladybug, as it had only gotten worse since he'd left school. Water slid down his suit, the magic that created it preventing it from soaking up the liquid. Instead, it fell to the small puddle around his boots. His breath was a faint fog in front of his masked face, blurring the sight in front of him for just a second each time he exhaled. Past it, the beautiful city of Paris was encased in gray from the clouds and rain. Not even the lights of the Eiffel Tower brought light to the city, as they were still quite a while from sunset.

Water splashed on the sidewalk behind him. He reacted instantly; spinning on one foot, he grabbed and extended his staff to prepare for a fight. When he saw who it was, however, he stopped.

"Hey, Chat Noir," Ladybug said as he put his staff away. After the rattling attack by Blackthorn, she looked okay. Though, she was protecting the side where she had been pricked. Hopefully, that wound wasn't too bad. Even after everything, he didn't think she deserved to be hurt like that just because someone couldn't their emotions in check.

"We have to talk, Ladybug," he replied, not bothering with a formal greeting. "I hate being so mad at you. But I don't know that I can fully trust you, and I know that you don't fully trust me anymore."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "What? Chat Noir, of course, I trust you!"

He carefully lifted his hurt arm. "If you're spending the entire fight worried that I can't do anything, or that I can't protect myself, then how is that trust? We both know everything with the Lucky Charm didn't go like you intended. It was luck - more than usual - that let it work out in our favor. My arm might be broken, Ladybug, but I'm still me. I'm not helpless. And..." Chat looked down, rain dripping from his hair and into his eyes. Shaking the drops free, he ran a hand through his blonde locks.

Ladybug paused for just a moment, processing everything he'd said. The look on her face changed, clearly becoming worried. "And what, Chat?"

Taking a deep breath, his chest feeling tight, he looked back up at her. "And I need to know _why,_ LB. The necklace, the kiss. You basically went along with everything. Why did you do that, then break my heart? Was it - was it something I said? Something that I did?"

Her shoulders drooped, a surprising pain in her own eyes. "No, Kitty. It's nothing that you did. I don't know what I'd do without you - you're one of my best friends. But, I can't. I like someone else. Somebody who barely knows that I even exist."

The words made his chest even tighter, making it harder to breathe. But, at the same time, it was almost easier. As much as he wished she liked him instead, this meant that this wasn't about him. Somehow, in a way that he didn't quite understand, that was better.

"That guy is an idiot, then," he replied, smiling. Ladybug looked into his eyes. Chat wasn't sure what she saw there, but she smiled back at him.

"Thank you, Chat Noir."


End file.
